The research is expected to investigate and analyze the thematic development and research directions in sustainable and affordable transportation. It aims to determine the most significant bibliometric parameters and research themes that pave the way for technological innovation, policy development, and sustainability objectives. It examines the conceptual and thematic organization of sustainable and affordable transportation research, identifies prominent contributors and collaboration networks, analyzes citation impact, and explores under-investigated research interests, such as alternative fuels and affordability. An exhaustive bibliometric review was conducted using 3,226 data points, retrieved through the Scopus database. Visual networks of the co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic maps were generated using ‘VOSviewer’ and ‘Biblioshiny’. Network diagrams were used to identify top-trending authors, journals, and affiliated countries, whereas thematic maps define core and peripheral research topics. The results show that the core themes that dominated research include sustainability, public and urban sustainable transportation, sustainable supply chain, artificial intelligence, intelligent transportation systems, and smart cities. It was noticed that the United States, China, and the United Kingdom have made significant contributions to this field of research. Through the thematic review, we recognized a gap between technological and policy development, particularly in affordability and renewable fuel infrastructure. It deliberates on a blueprint of future interdisciplinary research, investment priorities, and international cooperation to aid a sustainable transport transition. The originality of this study lies in its methodology, which combines bibliometrics and thematic mapping in the field of transportation affordability and sustainability. This research is strongly aligned with the multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mainly SDG7, SDG8, SDG9, SDG10, SDG11, SDG12, and SDG13.
Kadam et al. (Thu,) studied this question.