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Transport equality is one of the key aspects of sustainable urban transport. Personal satisfaction with travel among different communities and social groups has become a main theme in the field of transport equality research. However, there has been little investigation of the expectation confirmation mechanism underneath this affective feeling. Moreover, there is not enough evidence on how the discrepancy between expected and actual travel relates to satisfaction. This study first identifies the regional and social disparity in general travel satisfaction among residents in Beijing, then discusses how the satisfaction response to the dissonance between expected and actual travel, and finally investigates the role of urban rail transport in this disparity. The results show that general travel satisfaction presents both regional and social disparities, with city-centre and middle-income residents having higher travel satisfaction. Disconfirmation of travel expectations partly explains travel dissatisfaction. The inconsistency between travel discrepancy level and satisfaction for lower income residents further reflects transport inequality issues, and it provides a clue for transport policymakers to promote transport equity from a sufficientarianism perspective. Public transport-related development has an important role in improving different aspects of travel satisfaction. Among them, higher level of mixed land use in metro station catchment areas and higher metro network centrality of the home nearest station help to increase the travel satisfaction of disadvantaged residents. This is realised via enhancing destination options for low-income or suburban residents, and via providing a relatively smooth and tidy travel experience for disadvantaged groups, who tend to use metro as a major travel mode. • Regional and social inequality in general travel satisfaction exist among residents in Beijing. • Disconfirmation of travel expectations partly explains travel dissatisfaction. • Public transport-related development has an important role in improving different aspects of travel satisfaction. • Mixed land use in metro station catchment areas increase the travel satisfaction of disadvantaged residents. • Living near to stations in the metro network help to increase the travel satisfaction of disadvantaged residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 PM 2.5 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely believed air pollution is an obstacle to cycling as it has negative effects on cyclists’ health outcomes and deteriorates their cycling experiences. However, the empirical studies investigating the impact of air pollution on cycling behaviour remains scarce. The aim of this paper is to fill the gap by looking at Beijing as a case study. The authors conducted a survey of 307 cyclists on the days with different levels of air quality in terms of concentration of PM 2.5 in 2015. The results show that in the polluted weather, those who persist in cycling are more likely to be male, over 30 years old, lower income or those who travel short distances. Specifically, female cyclists have a higher tendency to shift from cycling to public transit than the males and medium and high-income earners are more likely to shift to using a car than low income earners. The residents’ subjective perceptions of safety and comfort have major effects on their cycling behaviour. A higher perception of comfort and safety is related to a higher possibility of continuing cycling when air quality became polluted. Cycling for commuting trips is less likely to be replaced by other modes than cycling for non-commuting trips, such as shopping. Results of this study reveal that improving air quality in a metropolitan area such as Beijing has co-benefits of cycling renaissance. The huge investments into cycling infrastructure should be integrated with policies designed to create an attractive environment for cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]