Timeline: the full paper is due August 15, 2019. You are welcome to submit your papers after December 1, 2018.
Transportation Research Part D has issued a call for papers (CFP) on the special issue: “Megaregional Approaches to Address the Mega-Challenges of Transportation and Environment”. The review process for all submissions coming out from CM2 will be handled by TR-D editors Bob Noland and Jason Cao while Dr. Ming Zhang will handle the review of all non-CM2 submissions.
Here is an excerpt from the CFP on their website:
Megaregion (also termed “mega-city region”, “super-city region”, or “city-cluster region” in the European and Asian context) refers to a large agglomeration consisting of two or more networked metropolitan areas and their hinterlands. French geographer Gottman first observed in the early 1960s the agglomerating phenomenon of megalopolis from Boston to Washington, D.C. and in other multi-metropolitan corridors of the United States. At the turn of this century, the agglomeration pattern re-emerged in the spotlight after a group of U.S. planners and researchers reported that more than two thirds of the nation’s population and wealth concentrated in eleven present or emerging megaregions. It is expected that three fourths of U.S. jobs and population will concentrate in the eleven megaregions by 2050. These megaregional demographic and economic trends predict a mega-scale demand for passenger and freight mobility. Going along with the rising mobility demand is the severe environmental challenges, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption, and climate change. While the transportation sector contributes to climate change, it is also affected by climate change as the transportation system is becoming increasingly vulnerable to frequent mega-disasters, for instance, Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey. The challenges of transportation congestion, pollution, and system vulnerability often originate locally but spread beyond regional, state or even national boundaries. These challenges cannot be tackled by adding up local solutions from individual communities, agencies, or transportation modes. A megaregion perspective emphasizes a long-term, strategic, and multi-dimensional scope consistent with the rising mega-agglomerations to tackle transportation challenges. It focuses on novel ways to build the bridges and fill the gaps among the silos of individual institutions, modal systems, and jurisdictional territories. U.S. trade partners and competitors in Europe and Asia have recognized the criticality of megaregion mobility and have taken strategic actions in anticipation. Examples of their actions include the continuing development of the multimodal Trans-European Transportation Network (TEN-T) in the European Union and high-speed rail (HSR) investments, along with port and highway construction, in Japan and China.
This special issue aims to share knowledge and experience from empirical investigations, case study of best practice, and analytical/theoretical advances in research on issues of transportation and environment in the megaregions or similar agglomerations of all countries and continents. We welcome contributions on the following topics:
- Strategic investments in national/sub-national/sub-continental transportation infrastructure (rail, roadways, and ports) to minimize green-house gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption
- Land and resources consumption and built-environment implications of megaregion growth under alternative transportation investment decisions
- The relationship between air quality, built environment attributes, and transportation system performance
- Megaregional emergency evacuation and transportation coordination in the event of natural disasters
- Environmental justice, spatial inequality, and the role of transportation in megaregions
- Behavioral changes in personal travel and home/job location decisions fostered by high-speed transportation, mobile communications technologies, environmental amenities, and life-style trends in the multi-city/multi-regional scale
- Legal and institutional challenges and options for passenger and freight mobility improvement in the multi-jurisdictional setting of megaregions
Timeline
The full paper is due August 15, 2019. You are welcome to submit your papers after December 1, 2018.
This issue will be a virtual special issue. It means that your paper will appear in the next regular issue after it is accepted. After all papers are accepted, guest editors will compile a virtual issue on the journal website. For an example of virtual issues, visit https://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-soft-computing/news/virtual-special-issue-vsi-introduction
All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of the guest editor:
Ming Zhang, zhangm@austin.utexas.edu
