A review of transportation carbon emissions research using bibliometric analyses

Abstract

The transportation sector is one of the major sources of global carbon emissions. In this study, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using CiteSpace and VOSviewer for articles published in the field of transportation carbon emissions (TCEs) between 1997 and 2023. From this analysis, our research shows that: (a) the number of articles on TCEs has grown rapidly since 2010; (b) China, the United States, and the United Kingdom are important research forces, with the Helmholtz Association of German having the highest number of publications; (c) Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment is the most cited journal in this field; (d) the current research hotspots mainly focus on theory and methodological approaches, low-carbon travel, green supply chain management, and carbon emission drivers; (e) while, scenario analysis, data envelopment analysis, and vehicle routing problem are popular keywords that have been used in the research field of TCEs in recent years. Finally, using current research trends, our study also proposes a series of future research endeavors for the field of TCEs.