The taxi sector is being revolutionized worldwide due to innovative companies, such as Uber, Lyft and more, that are trying to acquire a share of the market. In the same context, contemporary businesses in Greece have started to expand their activities. This present research is subsumed into the concept of innovation in the conventional taxi sector in Greece and attempts to implement pioneering ideas, to offer better services for taxi customers and profitable financial circumstances for taxi owners and drivers. The main data source regarding the taxi trips are the Hellenic Institute of Transport and Taxiway, the largest taxi fleet management company that operates in Thessaloniki. The given data consisted of 170 taxi trips originating from a taxi stand in the city center, 1981 routes which began from the area around the taxi stand and 1832 trips of taxis that passed through the examined area near the stand. These data, in accordance with a financial analysis of taxis' operational costs, have been processed to produce statistical results, such as the mean waiting time in each stand or possible spots for a taxi to pick up a customer. The research relies on these data, for the sake of building an application in which taxi drivers would be advised on their dilemma of choosing between waiting in taxi stands or hailing in the surrounding area to find a customer. With the utilization of such a website, drivers can compare the predicted benefit values for hailing or standing alternatives aiming to optimize the taxi downtime. The analysis concluded that the system can potentially increase the average expected profit per trip, even by 50% in a comparison to a different decision taken by the taxi driver.

Gender equality is a fundamental human right and is part of one of the goals of the 2030 Agenda (Goal 5), which promotes a more equitable and sustainable way of life. A gender imbalance still exists in the transport sector. Over the years, the reasons why women travel have changed, as have their modal preferences, thanks to the introduction of concessions (pink parking, pregnant seats) but also thanks to the introduction of new forms of mobility and multimodality. However, several works in the literature point out that women's journeys are in many cases more difficult than those of men because there are several factors that influence this imbalance. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a widening this gap. Through the administration of an online questionnaire, it was possible to find data regarding socio-demographic characteristics, travel habits and finally to analyze the main problems and feelings (feeling of safety on board, perception of a possible contagion and overall evaluation of gender equity both as passengers and as drivers of vehicles) related to the different modes of transport present in the Sicilian context. A statistical comparison of the results was defined considering the different pandemic phases from January 2020 to December 2021. The results show the basis for a better mobility planning starting from the resolution of the COVID-19 crisis that represents an opportunity to change the status quo.

Mobility since 2000 has undergone enormous changes due to new modes of transport and related technologies as well as catastrophic and pandemic events. Several strategies have been implemented by European states to mitigate impacts and assess possible risks in a preventive way. Today, mobility pursues the objectives of sustainability and resilience through a series of short-, medium- and long-term strategies that encourage the collaboration of the population to the choices of urban planning and design. Among the different modes of transport that have had a rise in recent years are scooters. Such modes are well suited to connecting spaces within the first and last mile. Similar to other modes of transportation, scooters are also characterized to date by reduced gender equity. The present work investigates through the administration of an online survey the participants' perceptions concerning the factors that most affect this gender balance considering the metropolitan areas of Catania and Palermo in Sicily. The development of an ordinal regression model revealed the most influential factors of the gender equality variable. Specifically, age, job occupation and perceived safety level of micromobility modes play the most important role. The present findings can be effectively utilized in the planning stage of e-scooter services towards the bridging of the gender gap.