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About

About

Tânia Fontes is a researcher at INESC TEC and is financed by National Funds through the FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (10.54499/2022.07805.CEECIND/CP1740/CT0001). Her area of expertise is urban mobility, people and cargo, focusing in particular on the assessment of the environmental impacts. Her research interests include the areas of transport policy assessment and the use of data science to support the design of decision support systems. Tânia has led several research projects in the area of passenger and cargo mobility, particularly in urban spaces (e-LOG and opti-MOVES). Besides these, she has actively collaborated on other research projects (eg Seamless Mobility, SmartDecision, CIVITAS-ELAN), consultancy projects (e.g. CIM-TS, VoxPop), and Cost actions (eg ARTS, TEA, TRANSITS). In 2016, she spent 6 months in Beijing to study the impacts of transport policies on the city's air quality. She regularly publishes in journals in the field of transport and environment. Tânia holds a PhD in Sciences Applied to the Environment from the University of Aveiro (2010). She also has a degree in Computer Engineering (ISEP, 2007) and Environmental Engineering (UFP, 2001).

Details

Details

  • Name

    Tânia Daniela Fontes
  • Role

    Assistant Researcher
  • Since

    01st November 2015
004
Publications

2024

Multidimensional subgroup discovery on event logs

Authors
Ribeiro, J; Fontes, T; Soares, C; Borges, JL;

Publication
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS

Abstract
Subgroup discovery (SD) aims at finding significant subgroups of a given population of individuals characterized by statistically unusual properties of interest. SD on event logs provides insight into particular behaviors of processes, which may be a valuable complement to the traditional process analysis techniques, especially for low -structured processes. This paper proposes a scalable and efficient method to search significant SD rules on frequent sequences of events, exploiting their multidimensional nature. With this method, it is intended to identify significant subsequences of events where the distribution of values of some target aspect is significantly different than the same distribution for the entire event log. A publicly available real -life event log of a Dutch hospital is used as a running example to demonstrate the applicability of our method. The proposed approach was applied on a real -life case study based on the public transport of a medium size European city (Porto, Portugal), for which the event data consists of 133 million smartcard travel validations from buses, trams and trains. The results include a characterization of mobility flows over multiple aspects, as well as the identification of unexpected behaviors in the flow of commuters (public transport). The generated knowledge provided a useful insight into the behavior of travelers, which can be applied at operational, tactical and strategic business levels, enhancing the current view of the transport services to transport authorities and operators.

2023

Sustainable Urban Last-Mile Logistics: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors
Silva, V; Amaral, A; Fontes, T;

Publication
SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract
Globalisation, urbanisation and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been raising the demand for logistic activities. This change is affecting the entire supply chain, especially the last-mile step. This step is considered the most expensive and ineffective part of the supply chain and a source of negative economic, environmental and social externalities. This article aims to characterise the sustainable urban last-mile logistics research field through a systematic literature review (N = 102). This wide and holistic review was organised into six thematic clusters that identified the main concepts addressed in the different areas of the last-mile research and the existence of 14 solutions, grouped into three types (vehicular, operational, and organisational solutions). The major findings are that there are no ideal last-mile solutions as their limitations should be further explored by considering the so-called triple bottom line of sustainability; the integration and combination of multiple last-mile alternative concepts; or by establishing collaboration schemes that minimise the stakeholders' conflicting interests.

2023

Anticipation of New and Emerging Trends for Sustainable Last-Mile Urban Distribution

Authors
Silva, V; Amaral, A; Fontes, T;

Publication
SMART ENERGY FOR SMART TRANSPORT, CSUM2022

Abstract
Globalization and the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased number of consumers using e-commerce services. This trend has been raising the demand for logistic activities, especially on the last-mile. This part of the supply chain is expensive and ineffective, and a source of negative externalities such as air and noise pollution, traffic congestion and accidents. The anticipation of innovative solutions can help to mitigate these costs. In this context, this paper provides a systematic literature review of the existing literature regarding emerging solutions for last-mile parcel delivery. For guiding the development of more sustainable last-mile parcel distribution, and to provide some insights for future research, we identified and summarized the emerging concepts within this field domain. The results show that innovative solutions have been emerging at different levels: (i) definition of new crowdsourcing-based models, (ii) use of new types of vehicles, and (iii) development of optimization systems based on data collection and the combination of different technologies. Moreover, recent studies show that new strategies are being developed focusing on using consumers as active actors of delivery; non-road and autonomous vehicles are promising concepts in last-mile operations; and different logistic operations, such as vehicle routing, are being optimized with data analytics, cloud technology and mobile apps.

2023

The Impact of CNG on Buses Fleet Decarbonization: A Case Study

Authors
Oliveira, JPF; Fontes, T; Galvao, T;

Publication
SMART ENERGY FOR SMART TRANSPORT, CSUM2022

Abstract
By 2050, and in the context of decarbonization and carbon neutrality, many companies worldwide are looking for low-carbon alternatives. Transport companies are probably the most challenging due to the continuing growth in global demand and the high dependency on fossil fuels. Some alternatives are emerging to replace conventional diesel vehicles and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. One of these alternatives is the adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG). In this paper, we provide a detailed study of the current emissions from the largest bus fleet company in the metropolitan area of Oporto. For this analysis, we used a top-down and a bottom-up methodology based on EMEP/EEA guidebook to compute the CO2 and air pollution (CO, NMVOC, PM2.5, and NOx) emissions from the fleet. Fuel consumption, energy consumption, vehicle slaughter, electric bus incorporation, and the investments made were taken into consideration in the analyses. From the case study, the overall reduction in CO2 emission was just 6.3%, and the emission factors (air pollutants) from CNG-powered buses and diesel-powered buses are closer and closer. For confirming these results and question the effectiveness of the fleet transitions from diesel to CNG vehicles, we analysed two scenarios. The obtained results reveal the potential and effectiveness of electric buses and other fuel alternatives to reduce CO2 and air pollution.

2023

Towards sustainable last-mile logistics: A decision-making model for complex urban contexts

Authors
Silva, V; Amaral, A; Fontes, T;

Publication
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY

Abstract
E-commerce growth is raising the demand for logistic activities, especially in the last-mile, which is considered the most ineffective part of the supply chain and a negative externalities source. Although various solutions aim to address these issues, selecting the best one is challenging due to multiple perspectives, conflicting criteria, trade-offs, and complex and sensitive urban contexts. This article proposes a 4-level hierarchical model based on the triple bottom line of sustainability that may assist decision-makers in selecting the most adequate last -mile solution for historic centers. The model was defined based on a systematic literature review; evaluated by interviewing a set of experts; and quantified according to an AHP-TOPSIS approach. This quantification focused on the historic center of Porto, Portugal. The experts considered all three sustainability dimensions similarly important. Air pollution was the most valued sub-criterion whereas Visual pollution was the least. 67 decision-maker profiles were defined, showing that environmentally oriented decision-makers prefer cargo bikes, while decision-makers who prioritize economic and social factors prefer parcel lockers. All last-mile solutions considered in the model yielded similar results, therefore suggesting a combined distribution strategy. Nevertheless, the use of parcel lockers is the most favorable solution for Porto's historic center.

Supervised
thesis

2022

Vehicle allocation In logistic processes

Author
Gustavo Macedo Torres

Institution
UP-FEUP

2022

Definition of a conceptual model to asses the environmental sustainability of parcel delivery: the case of fashion industry

Author
Pedro Aidos

Institution
UP-FEUP

2021

Design of a Decision Support System for intermodal management of public transport

Author
Pedro Francisco Mendes Bessa

Institution
UP-FEUP

2021

Urban transport evaluation using knowledge extracted from social media

Author
Francisco André Barreiros Murços

Institution
UP-FEUP

2021

Definition of a conceptual model to asses the environmental sustainability of parcel delivery: the case of fashion industry

Author
Pedro Aidos

Institution
UP-FEUP