Abstract

This document provides the AEOLIX impact assessment of living labs at the operational level. It is based on three main impacts namely business, environment, and socio-economic impacts. The three impacts are sub-divided further into sub-categories. The report collects data from twelve living labs involved in with AEOLIX. One of the main goals of AEOLIX was to reduce the costs for various logistics activities as implemented in twelve living labs. The expected benefits in the business area are from reducing the consumption of different resources, reducing the time used for various activities, and from increasing the productivity in certain areas. The economic or business benefits came along two dimensions: (i) in terms of time and (ii) in terms of money. In terms of time, AEOLIX facilitated reducing the time spent on various activities at the companies. In terms of money, AEOLIX helped to save the costs of specific logistics activities within the living lab. For the environmental aspect an overall value of 20% was set as target value for reduction in CO2 emission using AEOLIX. Only one of all living labs reached this target value, but there was anyhow a reduction found in all living labs. AEOLIX and its functions have also helped in reducing noise pollution at some of the living labs. In some cases, there was quite a considerable reduction. For the socio-economic aspects the job creation, SME empowerment, and the improved quality of life are addressed. This study has explored the impact of AEOLIX on job creation in terms of drivers’ and operators’ jobs. Since the AEOLIX implementation is still in its initial phases, respondents were unable to estimate how many jobs (drivers and/or operators) were created in the long run. SME Empowerment was measured as the increase in SMEs’ market share and the increase in direct collaboration between SMEs and large organizations. The results were meager both with regard to the market share and the extent of collaboration. The improved quality of life is measured in the way AEOLIX puts more focus on work, the less stress at work and a positive attitude towards people using it. The results reflect that AEOLIX has greatly helped employees to put more focus on work and to reduce stress levels. Managers consider this as a positive side of the return on investment (ROI) as the business processes are improved. AEOLIX impact on various socio-economic aspects is in principle positive but as this process is very slow to emerge it takes time to observe any changes in social aspects. Acceptance and trust on AEOLIX can be captured as a majority of the evaluation managers of the living labs found the AEOLIX functions (dashboard, connectivity engine and toolkit) useful to a great extent. The willingness to continue using AEOLIX functions and their usefulness are directly related to each other. This means that the more useful a function is, the more users are willing to continue using it. The AEOLIX platform, through various services and functions, has a positive impact on society in general and on workers in particular. Although this impact cannot be evaluated financially for the first year of the AEOLIX implementation, numerous studies show that a more satisfying and less stressful job, together with a more welcoming and stimulating environment, have an important economic impact in the long-term period. Therefore, the fact that AEOLIX has a positive impact on society will also prove to be an economic benefit for the different companies.

Abstract

Between 1950 and 2013 the total amount of Swedish travelling has increased from about 20 billion to about 140 billion passenger kilometers. This included an increase in travelling with private cars from about 3 billion to about 105 billion passenger kilometers, and in bus travelling from about 2.5 billion to about 5 billion passenger kilometers. The European commission has indicated that public transportation (if powered by clean fuels) is a suitable way to reduce environmental and health problems.   This thesis focuses on sustainable personal road transport, and aims to develop and test a new approach to examining the economic and socio-ecological sustainability effects of various road vehicles for private travelling and related business models. A special focus is set on comparing various bus systems for public transport and ways (business models) for private people to access cars. The main comparison parameters are the total cost of ownership and carbon dioxide emissions of different energy carriers for buses and cars. The Design Research Methodology is used to guide the research approach. The approach also builds on the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, which includes, for example, principles that define any sustainable future and a strategic planning process. The approach first employs Strategic Life Cycle Assessment to give a quick overview of sustainability challenges in each bus life cycle stage from raw materials to end of life. Several analysis tools such as Life Cycle Costing, Life Cycle Analysis, Product Service System, and Business Model Canvas mapping are then iteratively used to ”dig deeper” into identified prioritized challenges. Literature reviews, interviews, and simulations are used as supporting methods.   The results from a first theoretical test of the new approach suggest that a shift from diesel buses to electric buses (powered by renewable energy) could significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions, while also significantly lowering the total cost of ownership. The theoretical calculations were followed up by testing of electric buses in real operation in eight Swedish municipalities. The tests verified the theoretical results, and showed that electric buses are better than diesel buses both from a sustainability point of view and a cost point of view, and also that electric bus operation is a practically viable alternative for public transport. The new approach was tested also by comparing a variety of business models for private car travelling. The results indicate, among other things, that only people who travel more than 13.500 kilometers per year would benefit from owning a car.   In all, the thesis suggests a simultaneous shift from diesel buses to electric buses in public transport and, for the majority of the car drivers that drive less than 13.500 kilometers per year, switching from car ownership to car use services would be favourable for an affordable transition of the transport sector towards sustainability.