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Evaluating the benefits of promoting intermodality and active modes in urban transport …

The objective of this study is to show how microsimulation can be used to study urban transportation problems, in particular those issues related to sustainable transport and innovations. A theoretical, though representative, geometry of an urban area with a set of concentric and radial roads is considered for the analysis. Microsimulation, which provides a precise description of traffic flows, is used to draw a detailed accounting of pollutant gases emissions and fuel consumption. For this study, we created a transportation model in the aim to compare the initial status with other scenarios. Knowing that, the choice of the network we use is based on the structure of the city of Mons (Belgium). For the trips data we applied a gravitational-like model that we combine with monocentric city shape to construct the OD matrices. Activities are mainly located near the city center, while residential areas are in the suburban areas. As we move away from the city center, the frequency of business activities decreases while the number of home locations increases. As a result, most traffic flows induced by home-to-work trips are realistically directed towards the city center (inward direction). The gravitational feature allows us to produce more trip on closer edges than on far away edges. In the base-case situation, the private car is the main transport mode. We then consider alternative scenarios where users are allowed to switch to public transportation or biking. This alternative assert that congestion level, fuel consumption and emissions of pollutant gases decrease significantly (30%). A combination of walking, biking and public transportation is also allowed. Under this intermodal setting an increase of 35% instead of 30% in congestion decline has ensued. The results are able to be enhanced by 45% if we incorporate cycle paths in the city’s main edges. An interesting reduction of one third for the CO2 emissions, GHG, and even the rush-hour gets shorter. -- Title: Evaluating the benefits of promoting intermodality and active modes in urban transport: a microsimulation approach Presenter: Souhir Bennaya Authors: Souhir Bennaya and Moez Kilani