This Line of Research covers topics of different natures, such as new technologies, going through economic and environmental dimensions, including climate change, and social issues. These different natures involve a spatially equitable transport offer that meets all users universally (regardless of income, social class and physical ability, as is the casesof elderly, pregnant women and wheelchair users), providing services with the same level of safety, comfort, punctuality and other typical characteristics of a transport system of quality. It is characterized, therefore, by providing transport infrastructures and services whose conditions of access encourage choices and the use of sustainable modalities, such as active and public transport, which are safer, inclusive, socially friendly, with low environmental impact and lower economic costs, based on cleaner energy.

In this direction, three research strands can be highlighted. The first one addresses the planning, design and implementation of integrated transport systems, which provide the articulation between the different modalities and respective infrastructures and services for the transportation of passengers and cargo, taking advantage of the potential of each one. This purpose focuses on physical, operational, tariffing and institutional integration and applies not only in urban areas, but also in terms of intercity transport (also known as inland or rural transport), in addition to extending to regional and even national and international scales. The second research strand deals with the planning, regulation and operation of the road infrastructure with the purpose of contemplating not only motorized traffic, especially the automobile and its fluidity, but also the multiple users of this public space, in accordance with the concept of “complete streets”. This concept prioritizes the use of this space, which is scarce, through collective and active modalities, in addition to protecting the most fragile users (such as pedestrians and cyclists), providing safer traffic and compromising the citizens' right to life. The third strand addresses technological advances on two main fronts. The first one is based on fundamental information and communication technologies to (a) improve the planning and management practices carried out by the public administration and by entities responsible for the operation of transport and transit, including tariff and modal integration policies, and (b) make information available for users to plan their trips and choose the most convenient and sustainable modalities.The second front has a strong environmental motivation, considering the transition that involves the decrease in the use of fossil fuels, the progressively increasing and marked use of renewable energies, such as hydrogen and electrification of transport. This requires marked changes in the transport sector regarding the use of new motorization technologies and appropriate infrastructure. Complementarily, these changes also suggest the introduction of new forms of driving, such as autonomous transport.Its application is possible in a wide range of transportation modes, including personal, collective, cargo, land, nautical and air transports. One of the vectors for technological advancement with a focus on sustainability is the need to seek a low carbon development path due to the risks of global warming. In the world, the sector that most contributes to carbon emissions is energy and, within this, the transport and industrial sector are the most relevant ones.

This Research Line addresses the issues involved in the needs of the various transport systems for their operation, both in its facilities and in its lines and services, whether alone or in a network. In these cases, the rail, water, air, general circulation and public transport infrastructures are addressed, highlighting the role of traffic engineering and traffic safety in the management and operation of the road space.

The researches are carried out aiming to improve the transport systems, making people and cargo trips to be made in an efficient, safe and predictable way. Issues of costs involved in each system are also addressed, whether in tariffs and freight, or in aspects related to the costs necessary for its full operation, or in the dimensioning and actions necessary for the well execution of the planned activities.

An important point to be highlighted is the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) as well as the new technologies of information and communication and digital media, which contemplate several interdisciplinary aspects. Such tools assist and seek to optimize traffic management (motorized and non-motorized), provide suitability and efficiency regarding information to users, manage automatic collections, and guarantee frequency, tracking and management of trips in public transport, commercial vehicles (trucks), vehicle security systems, among others.

This line of research aims to expand the traditional concept of business logistics, seeking to introduce new world trends in socio-environmental sustainability and technological innovation applied to its primary activities (transportation, inventory management and order processing) that must be considered in a systemic and integrated way. Its field of action is embracing, including research in the field of conceptual proposals that pursue to change the paradigm of thinking about logistics; the evaluation of logistics performance through a focus that transcends the criteria of cost and service level; the integrated optimization of logistical processes; the integration between logistical channels (direct and reverse); the practice of city logistics integrated with urban planning; the practice of logistics as an instrument of economic and social integration on local, regional and national scales; the integration of information technology (IT) in logistics activities, among others.

Cities are characterized by their ability to provide interactions and opportunities, fundamental to personal and society growth and development, which has justified the intensification of the worldwide urbanization phenomenon. Cities are places where people live, work and move, requiring collective infrastructures, such as the transportation one, to carry out activities and meet their basic needs, including mobility.

They involve a large consumption of resources, impacts on the environment and multiple actors and conflicting interests whose organizational complexity requires planning, management and operation instruments. In this sense, this line of research studies cities and mobility according to an integrated, intersectoral and interdisciplinary concept, which addresses the potential and restrictions of different models of urban development, taking into account: (a) the relationships between the spatial organization of activities, the configuration of transport networks, such as accessibility conditions and urban mobility patterns, as well as (b) the specificities of Brazilian cities, mainly as metropolises, characterized by their social inequalities.

Among these models, two stand out, considering, in both cases, the construction of participatory, inclusive and transparent contexts of analysis and decision that also promote the changes desired by the population. The first model seeks smart cities and mobility, valuing the insertion of technological advances with a predominant (but not exclusive) focus on “efficiency”. The second one is committed to sustainable cities and mobility, highlighting other objectives - in addition to "efficiency,” such as quality of life - associated with "public interest,” with a perspective more directed to the citizen than to the consumer. These two models complement and articulate each other, becoming important references in the development of interdisciplinary research projects, which can be oriented towards conceptual and methodological contributions in the planning, management and operation of the transportation of people and goods, as well as in the use of technology and intelligence servicing more sustainable cities and urban mobilities.