Aesthetic approach to green transportation planning in tourism with design factors

Abstract

Green transportation technology has become a new paradigm in transportation engineering
fields over the whole world. Most attention, however, has been paid to mitigate greenhouse
gases or energy consumption, seldom reported pro-environment design in aesthetic aspect. It
is well known that a proper design of train enhances traveler satisfaction and contributes to
demand increase in public transportation. Hence, aesthetic factors should be considered
significantly. However, a difficult problem for reflecting aesthetic aspect is that there is no
clear design standard for railway to reflect aesthetic features. This paper aims to suggest
aesthetic factors to be guidance of rail transit planning in tourist attractions. We begin by
defining a term ‘aesthetic in railway system’ based on literature and empirical review. In this
paper, the definition is divided into two complementary views: (I) Sight-seeing mechanism
from inside to outside. (II) Vehicle exterior design harmonized with surrounding environment.
Based on the definitions, design factors are suggested: window size, speed, routes, type of
track, color, and size of train system. Each factor is explained with its standard. A result of evaluating rail transit with the factors shows that wireless tram is the most suitable transit for tourism. Limitations and improvements of the study are also suggested.

Keywords: Green transportation technology; Public transportation; Aesthetic factor; Tourism