Airports and aviation in general play a crucial role in the transportation network of society. More than 2,500 airports support an annual traffic of 4 billion passengers. However, this number is expected to continue increasing to 8 billion passengers in 2040 according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). At the same time, the climate change phenomenon gained popularity in the society, in which the aviation industry is responsible for 3.5%, and 2% of the CO2 emissions (major contributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions). If no change is made the share of CO2 emissions are estimated to reach 20% by 2050. Specifically in airports, there is a lack of guidance on how to make the airport’s airside more sustainable. Therefore, this study aims to develop a state-of-the-art sustainable rating system for airports airsides to be able to make the aviation industry more environmentally friendly. This is done based on research from the already existing rating systems for buildings and others considering infrastructures. The focus of the one developed in this study is on the environmental pillar of sustainability from an infrastructural point of view. The developed system was named as ‘Airport Rating System’ and it was found to be a technique that can be applied in a systematic way when designing airsides, making the word ‘sustainability’ tangible.

An increasing demand for mobility due to natural growth in demand and an urbanizing Randstad region create a demand for a higher quality and higher capacity system of public transportation in the Netherlands. Funding for improvements is however lacking threatening the development of needed homes in the region as new development locations lack accessibility. The responsibility for plan making and development of housing and regional infrastructure has shifted to lower levels of government. Value capture funding instruments are successfully applied abroad where they supply parts of the required funding for infrastructural projects. The application of value capture instruments in the Dutch context is studied by looking at Dutch cases where regional public transportation infrastructure and urban development are combined and by expert interviews to explore the application of value capture instruments. Through a literature study it was found that the upgrade of public transportation infrastructure can lead to a 3 to 5 per cent rise in real estate values in the first kilometer from a new station location. By estimating a rise in real estate values using qualitative characteristics complex quantitative calculations can be avoided and an expected rise in real estate value can be found. A proposal for a value capture process is made where the choice for an instrument is related to the capture space and financial feasibility is considered in relation to the choice for value capturing. It is recommended that the Dutch government takes action to empower local public bodies to be able to apply value capture instruments by taking away legal risks. Timing, scale and governance are seen as key factors for local public bodies to be able to succeed in capturing value.

In the 2020 timetable the Dutch legacy signalling and automatic train protection systems (ATB/NS’54) are operating at maximum capacity in the busiest parts of the network. With future expansions of services in mind, the capacity provided by the legacy systems could be considered insufficient. The planned implementation of the ERTMS/ETCS Level 2 system might still not provide sufficient capacity in these locations. This thesis investigates how the technological developments of the Hybrid Level 3 and ATO (GoA2) systems could contribute to the capacity of the railway network with the objective to provide a solution for the busiest part of the Dutch railway network. The capacity effects of these systems are analysed through a simulation case study on the SAAL corridor on the Dutch railway network, using a variant of the 2030 timetable. Through timetable compressions, the capacity that the different systems (ATB/NS’54, ERTMS/ETCS Level 2, Hybrid Level 3 and ATO) provide in different configurations. A further comparison between the human driver behaviour and automatic systems is made to determine where possible capacity benefits could be gained from. The thesis was partly used as an opportunity to further develop capacity modelling methods for ERTMS/ETCS and ATO based on the constraints provided by the systems and modelling software. The timetable compressions provided an overview of each separate system and configuration step and their contribution to the capacity. The results of the timetable compressions indicated that the ERTMS/ETCS Hybrid Level 3 and ATO systems provided 4 main steps for increasing capacity. 1. Improving braking behaviour through the use of ERTMS/ETCS braking curves instead of the legacy system 2. The use of shorter block sections through the ERTMS/ETCS Hybrid Level 3 system 3. An optimisation of driving/braking behaviour through the ATO system 4. The possibility to limit headway buffer times due to homogenisation of train movements brought by the ATO Sizable variations in the timetable compressions on the different part of the corridor caused by variations in the service pattern and infrastructure configuration indicated that the effectiveness of these systems will vary based on the location. This shows the importance for infrastructure managers of investigating these systems on a case by case basis when using them to increase capacity on their respective networks. The results from the case study indicate that the ERTMS/ETCS Hybrid Level 3 and ATO systems could provide a possible alternative for costly infrastructure expansion projects to increase capacity on the Dutch railway network. Trade-offs will need to be made between capacity, costs, and robustness to determine the optimal system configuration.

A significant part of the revenue generated by KLM Cargo comes from transporting temperature- sensitive goods. Currently, KLM Cargo faces quality issues in the handling processes of these goods which may lead to significant loss in revenue, and the risk of not generating new revenue. This research focuses on the improvement of the performance of the handling processes of temperature-sensitive goods at the warehouses of KLM Cargo. The main research question answered in this research is: ‘How can the overall performance of the handling processes of temperature-sensitive goods in the KLM Cargo warehouses be improved?’ The current state of the handling processes of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical and perishable goods is analysed by using the Delft Systems Approach and the principles of lean manufacturing. The current state analysis shows that the temperature-sensitive goods are out of refrigerated storage for long periods of time or are stored in the wrong refrigerated storage area (perishables and pharmaceuticals are not to be stored together). This is mainly due to insufficient capacity of processes and facilities, the erratic arrival pattern of air cargo and the presence of non-value added process steps. It is concluded that KLM Cargo currently does not use adequate Key Performance Indica- tors (KPIs) that describe the performance of the handling processes of temperature-sensitive goods. Thus, new KPIs have been proposed. These are the Time Out of Refrigeration (TOR), the number of storage violations and the on-time performance on handling deadlines. The TOR is calculated as the amount of time a shipment is present at the Schiphol hub, but is not stored in a refrigerated area. The number of storage violations represents the number of times a cool storage area has insufficient capacity and the on-time performance shows the percentage of shipments that are delivered on-time according to the handling deadlines set up by KLM Cargo. The overall performance of the handling processes of temperature-sensitive goods can be improved by decreasing the TOR while the amount of storage violations and the on-time performance do not deteriorate. In order to reach the research objective, multiple design options are proposed. The different design options should meet the requirements for the handling of temperature-sensitive goods as well as the procedures laid out in the rules and regulations. Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is used to model the system and test the effects of the different design options. The system performance is measured by the TOR, the number of storage violations and the on-time performance. In the current state the average throughput time of a temperature-sensitive shipment is xxx minutes, of which the shipment spends xxx minutes out of a refrigerated area. The number of storage violations is approximately xxx shipments per day, or xxx shipments per year. There are three design options tested in the DES model, they consist out of the following: 1) the removal of non-value added processes, 2) levelled truck arrivals by optimal supply chain collaboration and 3) an input controller to control the arriving cargo at the Schiphol hub. Input data consisted of a truck and flight arrival schedule based on actual data along with a synthesised dataset which contains the amount of freight per shipment, the type of product, the type of cargo and the departure times. Each design option was run 25 times for a simulated duration of 365 days. The results were averaged and analysed in order to choose the best design option. The optimal way to improve the overall performance of the handling processes of temperature- sensitive goods is found to be the implementation of an input controller at KLM Cargo. In this design option, an input controller is designed that decides if arriving cargo is accepted for further handling in the KLM Cargo warehouses. If adequate handling can be ensured, the cargo is accepted for further handling within the warehouses of KLM Cargo. If adequate handling cannot be ensured, the cargo is ordered to wait outside of the KLM Cargo premises and is put into a queue with other cargo that cannot enter the warehouse yet. The moment adequate handling can be ensured again, the cargo with the shortest transit time is ’pulled’ from the queue and accepted into the warehouse for further handling. Implementing this design option resulted in a xx% decrease of the TOR, a xx% decrease in storage violations while the on-time performance did not deteriorate and compliance is adhered to. This design option does however increase the chance of cargo missing their flight, as waiting times are added for shipments that are not directly allowed to enter the warehouse. At the same time, this phenomenon creates an incentive for customers to deliver their cargo on-time. For future research it is recommended to look further into other potential control strategies that include demand forecasting. In order to address the cost aspect of the performance, it is suggested to investigate the devaluation of temperature-sensitive goods when they are not stored in a refrigerated area. Finally, it is recommended to extend this research on the entire supply chain from shipper to consignee in order to get insights in the performance per lane.

This project is the result of the research for the graduation project of Project HUMAM; Hub for Urban Mobility for the Amsterdam Metropolitan area. The project focuses on the future demands of the Amsterdam Municipality in which they expect an increase of 70.000 new households and 50.000 new working areas over the coming 30 - 40 years in Havenstad area. More people are moving from their village to the city or the suburbs, creating a full expanse of the city boundary and less space to accommodate the residents. However, the Municipality acknowledge the fact that this growth also brings difficulty in the accommodation of the expected households. Amsterdam Havenstad has been chosen to be the new urban core for these developments. The area is well-known for its extensive industries and enterprises, making this area rich and profound for the economic heart of the city, which will make its shift towards a mixed-use region for industry and residents. To accommodate these amount of people, the Municipality sees new opportunities in technological innovations and sees the use of a car as a potential problem in terms of land-use and health. Therefore, project HUMAM will analyse and research the Sloterdijk area, to accommodate a transportation hub for the city. This hub enables the district to ban the car and put the focus on Automated Vehicles and shared possibilities. To keep Sloterdijk connected, the hub will perform as the catalyst for the area. This project tries to posit a vision of a future where anyone in the city can go wherever they want, whenever they want to, and accordingly, a place where we share our spaces in total connectivity with our mechanic neighbours. Project HUMAM will be the landmark of innovation and offers solutions to this growing problem.

Due to complex nature of aircraft heavy maintenance checks, achieving process stability is difficult. Literature suggests that this stability can be obtained by separating routine and non-routine work, and focusing on quick identification of non-routine tasks by completing inspection tasks early in the check. Current task planning methods show limitations in producing a feasible task planning, motivating the need for an advanced task planning model. This model combines the task elements of manpower, work order, and aircraft zone to find the minimum TAT given the task complexity-based heuristic. For this model, aircraft zones have been redefined, as the zones specified by Boeing are not suitable for task planning. An experiment using the advanced task planning model is conducted for the Inspection Phase tasks of the Boeing 777 C07 check. The target is to complete all tasks in 48 hours. Results show that it is feasible to perform all Inspection Phase tasks in 61.28 hours, where 99.51% of the tasks is completed in 48 hours. Completing all tasks takes 8 shifts, with a maximum of 31 technicians in a shift. The total TAT can be further reduced by identifying and lifting the constraints in the planning. One example shows how this can lead to an 8 hour reduction in total TAT for the best experiment scenario, bringing the TAT closer to the 48-hour goal. This demonstrates how the advanced task planning method can be used to stabilise aircraft heavy maintenance.