Multi-Modal Assessment of Highway Performance

This chapter presents a multi-modal method for the assessment of highway performance. It is derived by extending a traditional assessment concept step by step taking into account the capacity and quality of different modes on the road as well as in the corridor. It defines an appropriate performance target and explains why a multi-modal concept has to consider transport demand in persons and goods rather than traffic volumes in vehicle units. It is shown that the concept allows for different options and measures to improve traffic quality and so supports the efficient use of existing infrastructure and the effective allocation of limited funds.

Evaluating Alternatives of Transport Network Design of a Metropolitan City Using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis

The objective of this study is to examine how the share of public transit investments affects urban structure using spatial-temporal distribution of transport passenger flows over transport network alternatives. A methodology to model urban structure (identifying and classifying centers and subcenters) based on urban travel data (interzonal urban passenger flows via urban rail modes during morning peak-hour) was developed using hierarchical cluster analysis for the case study of Istanbul Metropolitan City in Turkey since the rail investment is the major determinant in the definition of the network alternatives studied. Effects of the alternatives of Istanbul's 2023 Transport Master Plan networks on urban structure were modeled and compared using hierarchical cluster analyses (HCA). Analysis of the travel patterns over the alternative transport networks did not yield significant differences under the given constraint that the number of total trips in the metropolitan city was constant for all scenarios.

An Assessment Relationship between Social Exclusion and Transportation

Having been used extensively since the 1980s, the concept of social exclusion has given a new impetus to the discussions of poverty and disadvantageousness. The concept of social exclusion, which can be defined as the condition in which certain individuals or social groups cannot integrate into the society either socially or economically or politically, leads to social cohesion problems. This triggers segregation of the society, particularly in large cities, in both social and spatial terms. In the context of accessibility, “urban transport” appears as one of the most important factors determining level of social inclusion/exclusion of the individuals or groups. In this study relation between social exclusion and transport has been evaluated as an attempt to identify socio-spatial segregation pattern of Ankara.

Evaluation of Walkability and Pedestrian Level of Service

Due to decreasing resources, living in urban regions focus on sustainability in many aspects, including transportation. Sustainable transportation encourages non-motorized modes of walking and cycling as well as public transit (which also relies on walking while accessing a station), as well. However, walking as a mode is still a big mystery itself that needs further attention and research effort especially in the evaluation part. So far, the planners have discussed the concepts of walking and walkability, while engineers have mostly focused on Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS). The scope of the problem is reflected in the diversity, and consequent inconsistency, in the available PLOS methods, which is one of the problems addressed in this chapter. The second and the bigger problem is the gap between the planning and engineering approaches in evaluating PLOS and walkability producing no consensus or clear relationship between the two, even though they overlap greatly.

The Role of Engineers and Their Tools in the Transport Sector after Paradigm Change

On the contrary to other fields of human progress, transport is creating more problems with increasing wealth. Congestion, traffic victims, noise and air pollution are direct unwanted effects, not been solved so far. The cause is the lack of system understanding in the professional world. the existing paradigm in Transport is based on assumptions and extrapolations and not on solid science. The new scientific based paradigm, need also new tools for the sustainable future of transport and cities.

Logistics for City and Regional Planning

Logistics in transport considers the physical structure of a city as given and tries to optimize the performance of companies or the transportation system within the given conditions. On the other side, companies choose their location under the given conditions and the expected changes and influence the structure of the city and its economy in a continuous way. City and transport planning methods have not considered these effects in their work so far and are therefore influenced by the driving forces of the economy of scale and demand oriented traffic growth. The introduction of principles of logistics into the early stages of land use and city planning would change the “given conditions” and open the path for a more sustainable development, with more pressure for innovation and fairness in the market.

Sustainable Parking Planning for Smart Growth of Metropolitan Cities

This chapter identifies main problems of parking planning in demand-oriented conventional paradigm. Parking planning principles and cost-effective programs in supply-oriented sustainable paradigm are presented in the chapter listing many economic, social and environmental benefits. The chapter describes various parking strategies for developing a sustainable parking plan for smart growth of metropolitan cities, including cases of Istanbul and Vienna. A critical perspective is drawn for the parking planning policies for these city cases. Parking is recognized as an important factor influencing accessibility. Parking planning, parking policies and pricing play a critical role in local government decision making.

From Regional Austrian Parking Ordinances to Sound Guidelines

Provision of parking space is a constant challenge in urban transport planning because streetscape is a limited resource and therefore highly contested between different uses. In Austria, building regulation competence is subsidiary appointed from the national level to nine provincial parliaments. This leads to nine different parking ordinances. Whereas historically all ordinances have been focusing only on car parking by means of rigid regulations, only recently selected provincial parliaments added detailed bicycle ordinances their building codes. After a detailed overview of the Austrian situation and selected international innovations, the authors identify long-run goals that parking organization in cities should aim at and suggest an improvement of parking ordinances so that city planners and city administrations will have at hand appropriate design tools for mobility regime improvement.

Effect of a Motorway on Development of Accidents in a Big City

Traditional transport practice and science call motorways as safe roads since the accident rate (accidents per 1 million vehicle kilometres) is lower than on ordinary roads. This is based on the scientific inadmissible comparison. Similar, but not comparable things, are compared: the accident situation of two different kinds of transport systems, which are basically different not only in its construction elements, but also in operation condition, their environments and the composition of their users. All of them are different. To compare, comparability is a necessary precondition. If we take this into consideration we can recognize, that the existing contradiction between accident-research-results and physics can be removed. Systems with a higher speed have a higher risk. But these facts are continuously neglected by traditional educated practitioners: they cling to their myths. One of them is “Since the number of accidents per kilometer driven on motorways is less than on other roads, motorways are safer roads.”

A Comparison of Transport Modes in Terms of Energy Consumption

Energy consumption of transport modes are partly dependent on the chosen travel mode. For specific OD pairs a comparison of travel modes in terms of energy consumption gives an idea of the possibilities to change the energy budget of a city. In this study a comparison of transport modes in terms of energy consumption is given for two chosen routes in the case study of Ankara, Turkey. The results show that there are differences with respect to chosen travel mode in terms of energy use and travel cost reflected to traveler for a certain OD couple.