Transport sustainability – a bibliometric, systematic methodological review and future research opportunities

Purpose Over the past decade, achieving sustainability in the transport sector has become a significant concern for governments and stakeholders. In this context, this study aims to comprehensively analyse the existing literature to document contributions and methodological deficiencies and pave the way for future research. Design/methodology/approach The authors used thematic, bibliometric and methodological systematic reviews of 39 articles across 30 sources from 112 authors between 2005 and 2023. Findings Using the Biblioshiny, the bibliometric analysis unveils the top prolific authors, contributing sources, most productive countries, top-cited papers and evolving keywords in advancing transport sustainability literature streams. The analyses revealed two strands of literature (those from the composite perspective and the triple-bottom-line perspective). The authors further consolidated indicators to measure the three pillars of transport sustainability comprehensively. Originality/value This paper uses a holistic approach to provide a state-of-the-art understanding of transport sustainability useful for the net zero or sustainable transport agenda. This paper is among the few attempts to consolidate indicators to measure transport sustainability from the triple bottom line perspective, whilst also offering exciting directions for future studies and inspiring hope for a more sustainable transport sector.