110031 - TRANSPORT AND SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY

Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Valeria Bernardo

Trimester: Third term

Credits: 4

Academic year: 2026

Teaching course: 3

• Spanish

This subject studies the relationship between transport and the environment from a theoretical and, above all, applied perspective. In addition to presenting the main conceptual frameworks that explain this interconnection, the externalities of transport, such as noise, accidents, road congestion and air pollution, as well as their effects on health and climate change, are analyzed.

It also delves into energy consumption and transport efficiency, including the study of fuels, alternative modes of mobility and associated infrastructures. Finally, business sustainability is addressed through the analysis of the organizational carbon footprint, the scope of emissions, reporting and internal audit processes, and the identification of opportunities for decarbonization and industrial symbiosis.

The subject has a markedly practical nature. Students will have to apply theoretical content to real problems, develop critical analyses, search for and compare data, verify the applicability of the models studied and evaluate public policies and business strategies for sustainability. Throughout the course, work will be carried out through group activities, class debates, case studies, role-playing, defending arguments and presenting results.

This approach requires active and continuous participation, both inside and outside the classroom. The sessions are conceived as a space for work, discussion and comparison of ideas, in which students will have to justify their decisions, interpret evidence and communicate conclusions clearly and rigorously.

The main objective is to provide a deep and multifaceted understanding of the environmental and social impacts of transport, as well as the strategies available to measure, assess and mitigate them. Special attention is paid to the analysis of sustainable urban transport policies and business strategies, both from a local and international perspective.

The classroom, physical or virtual, is a safe space free from sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or discriminatory attitudes, both towards students and teachers. We trust that, among all, we can build an environment in which it is possible to participate, debate, make mistakes and learn without suffering prejudice or discrimination.

Topic 1. Environmental and Economic Fundamentals of Transport

• Models and theories on environmental sustainability (IPAT, CKA)
• Introduction to transport externalities
• Economic fundamentals: efficiency, market failures and solutions

Topic 2. Energy Consumption and Sustainable Technologies

• Energy consumption and intensity in transport
• Alternative fuels and technologies
• Sustainable transport modes and networks

Topic 3. Transport externalities: measurement, mitigation and sustainable urban policies

• Main environmental and social impacts of transport: air pollution, noise, accidents and congestion.
• Indicators and measurement methods for each externality.
• Review of urban sustainable transport policies: objectives, applied measures, evaluation instruments and analysis of real cases.

Topic 4. Business sustainability

• Measurement and management of the organizational carbon footprint.
• Scope of emissions and corporate responsibility.
• Preparation of sustainability reports.

1. Continuous assessment: 50%
   They will be performed five group activities throughout the course. Class time will be allocated to the preparation of the activities and the presentation of the results, but these will also require independent work outside the classroom.
2. Final exam: 50%
   To pass the subject and make an average with the continuous assessment, you will need to obtain a minimum grade of 5 10 on in the final exam.

• Students who have not appeared in the ordinary call will not be able to appear in the retake call.
• Continuous assessment activities will not be recoverable.
• In the case of students who repeat the subject, the exam will represent the 100% of the final grade.
• Any form of academic fraud will be sanctioned in accordance with the center's evaluation regulations. If signs of fraud are detected, including the improper use of generative artificial intelligence tools, the subject's teaching staff may call the student for an individual interview with the aim of verifying their authorship.

European Commission (2020). Handbook on the external costs of transport. Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9781f65f-8448-11ea-bf12-01aa75ed71a1

International Energy Agency. (2025). Global energy review 2025. https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/5b169aa1-bc88-4c96-b828-aaa50406ba80/GlobalEnergyReview2025.pdf

Perdiguero, J., & Sanz, À. (2020). Transport and air quality in cities: some proposals (Energy Papers, n.º 10). you work https://www.funcas.es/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Jordi-Perdiguero-y-%C3%80lex-Sanz-.pdf

National Markets and Competition Commission. (2024). Balance of the liberalization of rail transport. https://www.cnmc.es/sites/default/files/5307599.pdf

National Markets and Competition Commission. (2024). Annual report of the railway sector (2023) (Report INF/DTSP/033/24). CNMC. https://www.cnmc.es/sites/default/files/5441138.pdf

Díaz, A. (2021). Climate change and energy efficiency. Nothing is Free. https://nadaesgratis.es/luis-puch/cambio-climatico-y-eficiencia-energetica

European Court of Auditors. (2023). Intermodal freight transport – EU still far from getting freight off the road (Special Report No. 08/2023).  https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eca/special-reports/intermodal-freight-transport-08-2023/es/

European Environment Agency. (2021). The EU Emissions Trading System in 2021: Trends and projections (EEA Report No. 18/2021). Publications Office of the European Union. https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/the-eu-emissions-trading-system-2021

Database: EUROSTAT – Statistical Office of the European Union / EEA – European Environment Agency / IHME – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation / World Bank – The World Bank Group / IEA – International Energy Agency

you work (2022). Terrestrial infrastructures, transport and mobility of people (Papes de Economía Española, n.º 171). Recovered from https://www.funcas.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PEE-171-WEB.pdf

González, L. & Martín, A. (2022). Zones of low emissions and traffic congestion: Evidence from Central Madrid. Nothing is Free.

MITECO (2024). Energy balance of Spain 2023. 

MITECO (2025). National inventory of greenhouse gas emissions: Summary report. Edition 1990–2023. 

Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. (2025, April). Annual report 2024 of the Transport and Logistics Observatory in Spain (OTLE).

Ritchie, H. (2021). How much energy do countries consume when we take offshoring into account? Published online at OurWorldinData.org.

Zilio, MI (2012). Environmental Kuznets curve: the validity of its foundations in developing countries. Cuadernos de Economía, 35(97), 43-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0210-0266(12)70022-5