Optimization of urban mobility measures to achieve win-win strategies

European cities are essential in the development of Europe as they constitute the living environment of more than 60% of the population in the European Union and are drivers of the European economy – just under 85% of the EU’s gross domestic product is produced in urban areas (EC, 2007a). The car has been one of the main factors of development during the 20th century, but it is at the same time the origin of the key problems cities have to face: traffic increase. This has resulted in chronic congestion with many adverse consequences such as air pollution and noise. This loss of environmental quality is one of the reasons for urban sprawl in European cities during recent decades. But this urban sprawl at the same time worsens the environmental conditions. We must return to the dense city, but clean and competitive, and this implies reducing car use yet provides quality transport alternatives sufficient to recover and maintain the competitiveness of cities (EC, 2007a). Consequently, European cities need to establish an urban transport strategy which helps reduce their environmental problems –mainly emissions and noise – but without decreasing their trip attraction. This aspect is very important because a loss of trip attraction would result in an increase of people moving to more disperse areas, contributing towards worsening the current situation. This thesis is an attempt to contribute solutions to this problem in two ways: 1) The first is to analyze the complementarity and possible synergies of several urban transport measures aimed at improving a modal split to a more sustainable means of transport. This analysis will focus on the three aspects already mentioned: emissions, noise and attractiveness or competitiveness. 2) Once possible synergies and complementarities have been analyzed, the second objective is to propose the best combination of these measures, in terms of level of implementation, to achieve the maximum benefit with respect to the three aspects previously established: emissions, noise and attractiveness or competitiveness. Therefore, within the wide range of measures enhancing sustainable urban transport, three of them have been be selected in this thesis to establish a methodology for achieving these objectives. The analysis will be based on the region of Madrid, which is also the case study selected for this research. Las ciudades europeas son piezas fundamentales para el desarrollo europeo, ya que son el lugar de residencia de más del 60% de la población de la unión europea así como los motores de su economía – casi el 85% del PIB europeo se produce en áreas urbanas (EC, 2007a). El coche ha sido uno de los principales motores de desarrollo de las ciudades durante el siglo XX, pero se ha terminado por convertir a su vez en uno de los principales problemas con los que tiene que lidiar las ciudades: el aumento del tráfico. Esto ha derivado en unos niveles crónicos de congestión, con multitud de efectos adversos, entre los que cabe destacar la contaminación del aire y el ruido. Esta pérdida de calidad ambiental es una de las razones que ha propiciado la dispersión urbana que han experimentado las ciudades europeas en las últimas décadas. Pero esta dispersión urbana a su vez contribuye a empeorar las condiciones ambientales de las ciudades. Debemos retornar a la ciudad densa, pero limpia y competitiva, y esto implica reducir el uso del coche, pero proporcionando alternativas de transporte que permitan recuperar y mantener la competitividad de las ciudades (EC, 2007a). Por lo tanto, las ciudades europeas necesitan encontrar una estrategia de transporte urbano que ayude a reducir sus problemas medio ambientales – principalmente ruido y emisiones – pero sin hacerlas perder atractividad o competitividad. Este aspecto tiene gran importancia porque una pérdida de la misma se traduciría en un aumento de dispersión de la población hacia áreas periféricas, contribuyendo a empeorar la situación actual. Esta tesis contribuye a solucionar este problema de dos maneras: 1) La primera, analizando la complementariedad y posibles sinergias de diferentes medidas de transporte urbano orientadas a promover un reparto modal hacia modos más sostenibles. Este análisis se centrará en los tres aspectos anteriormente citados: emisiones, ruido y atractividad o competitividad. 2) Una vez las posibles sinergias y complementariedades se han analizado, el segundo objetivo es proponer la mejor combinación de estas medidas – en términos de grado de aplicación - para lograr el máximo beneficio en lo que respecta a los tres objetivos previamente establecidos. Para ello, en esta tesis se han seleccionado una serie de medidas que permitan establecer una metodología para alcanzar estos objetivos previamente definidos. El análisis se centra en la ciudad de Madrid y su área metropolitana, la cual se ha escogido como caso de estudio para realizar esta investigación

La movilidad en la Comunidad de Madrid: ¿una cuestión de género?

El objetivo de este estudio es analizar cuál es la situación actual a este respecto en la Comunidad de Madrid, si existen diferencias en las pautas de desplazamiento de hombres y mujeres, qué factores explican estas diferencias, así como la posible relación que estas pautas puedan tener con factores territoriales o económicos

Integración de modelos estratégicos con modelos de transporte : aplicación al modelos Mars

El objetivo del trabajo es integrar los modelos de 4 etapas con los modelos estratégicos, aprovechando las bondades de unos y otros para obtener una herramienta más potente, sin perder por otro lado la autonomía que actualmente presentan cada uno de ellos

Squaring the circle: The BHLS concept

The transport systems known as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was launched in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1974 as a means of offering efficient and effective bus travel within the fast expanding city. This experience, together with other big examples like in Ottawa (since 1983) or in Quito (since 1994), have proven to be an efficient and effective solution to mass transport. Throughout Europe similar experiences have started to be developed, but responding to a different concept of quality of service. Bus systems such as the “trunk network”, in Sweden, the Metrobus, in Germany, or the BHNS (Bus à Haut Niveau de Service), broach the quality of service from a wider perspective than the BRT, as it considers aspects such as image, confort...,apart from speed, frequency or reliability. These new systems - BHLS (Buses with a High Quality of Service) - allow to combine quality of service of tramways with the lower costs and higher flexibility of bus systems, and offers very interesting solutions in terms of accessibility, a wide range of service levels, that allows the system to be adapted to the different urban contexts (size, population, density…) In the economic situation we are now living, the lack of funds provides BHLS an important role in public transport. Less costs with the same quality of service seems to be a very attractive option. The aim of this article is to compare the different European experiences of tramways and BHLS, specially from the economic point of view, considering the costs, benefits and advantages of each of them

Del BRT al BHLS: un enfoque europeo de los sistemas de transporte masivo en autobús.

Los sistemas conocidos como Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), nacidos en Estados Unidos en la década de los 70, han mostrado ser una solución tan eficaz como eficiente para el transporte de masas. La evolución del concepto, hasta lo que actualmente se denomina BHLS (Bus with a High Level of Service), permite combinar las ventajas de los tranvías en cuanto a velocidad, frecuencia, imagen, confort, etc., con los menores costes y el nivel de capacidad y flexibilidad que los autobuses conllevan. Una cuadratura del círculo que coloca a este nuevo sistema a medio camino entre el tranvía y los autobuses digamos regulares, adoptando las ventajas de uno y otro. En un momento económico como el actual, es evidente que la limitación- cuando no falta- de fondos abre para el BHLS todo un campo de oportunidades en las áreas urbanas como un atractivo modo de transporte que combina la calidad de los modos ferroviarios con la flexibilidad de los autobuses. Es, precisamente, el contexto socio económico actual el que lleva a las autoras a reflexionar acerca de las ventajas comparativas, sobre todo desde el punto de vista financiero, de estos tres sistemas de transporte de masas: autobús, ferrocarril y, finalmente, el BHLS. El análisis de costes, puesto en relación con los beneficios y ventajas que cada sistema lleva asociados, permitirá extraer una serie de conclusiones acerca de sus posibilidades reales como el innovador sistema de transporte de masas que pretende ser

La movilidad en la Comunidad de Madrid. ¿Diferencias según género?

La movilidad, elemento vital en la vida modema, contribuye a la organizaci6n de nuestras tareas diarias fuera del hogar (BrSg, 1996). Tradicionalmente, hombres y mujeres han tenido "roles" diferentes y, por tanto, pautas de movilidad tambien distintas. Sin embargo, la incorporaci6n de la mujer al mercado laboral, a lo largo de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, ha traido consigo un acercamiento en las necesidades de desplazamiento de ambos generos. Esta incorporaci6n, unida a la desigual distribuci6n en las responsabilidades domesticas, ha despertado el interes por conocer las diferencias que existen en la movilidad cotidiana de hombres y mujeres. ^Cual es la situation en la Comunidad de Madrid? El estudiol del que aqui se exponen las principales conclusiones ha analizado las diferencias en la movilidad diaria de hombres y mujeres. Primero desde una perspectiva global, considerando, en primer lugar, el conjunto de la movilidad, y, a continuation, un analisis especifico exclusivamente de la movilidad laboral. En una segunda parte, se analiza la distribution territorial y el nivel economico, variables tradicionalmente asociadas a la eleccion modal. Para todo ello, se han utilizado los datos de la Encuesta Domiciliaria de Movilidad de 2004, realizada por el Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid. Entre las conclusiones obtenidas, cabe destacar: • Las mujeres viajan mas a pie y en transporte publico, mientras que los hombres se desplazan principalmente en coche. • Este menor uso del coche no responde a una menor disponibilidad de vehiculo privado, sino tambien a una election personal • El uso del coche por parte de la mujer parccc cstar relacionado con el nivel de ingrcsos, no asi el del hombrc, que parccc rcspondcr a la busqueda de una imagen personal

Win-win transport strategies: searching for sinergies

In order to achieve to minimize car-based trips, transport planners have been particularly interested in understanding the factors that explain modal choices. In the transport modelling literature there has been an increasing awareness that socioeconomic attributes and quantitative variables are not sufficient to characterize travelers and forecast their travel behavior. Recent studies have also recognized that users? social interactions and land use patterns influence travel behavior, especially when changes to transport systems are introduced, but links between international and Spanish perspectives are rarely deal. In this paper, factorial and path analyses through a Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause (MIMIC) model are used to understand and describe the relationship between the different psychological and environmental constructs with social influence and socioeconomic variables. The MIMIC model generates Latent Variables (LVs) to be incorporated sequentially into Discrete Choice Models (DCM) where the levels of service and cost attributes of travel modes are also included directly to measure the effect of the transport policies that have been introduced in Madrid during the last three years in the context of the economic crisis. The data used for this paper are collected from a two panel smartphone-based survey (n=255 and 190 respondents, respectively) of Madrid

Win-Win transport strategies: searching for synergies.

The need of an urban transport strategy on urban areas which solves the environmental problems derived from traffic without decreasing the trip attraction of these urban areas is taken for granted. Besides there is also a clear consensus among researchers and institutions in the need for integrated transport strategies (May et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2006). But there is still a lack of knowledge on the policy measures to be implemented. This research aims to deepen in the understanding of how do different measures interact when implemented together: synergies and complementarities between them. The methodological approach to achieve this objective has been the double analysis ? quantitative and comprehensive ? of the different impacts produced, first of all by each of the measures by itself, and later on combining these measures. For this analysis, we have first defined the objectives to achieve within the transport strategy ? emissions and noise decrease without losing trip attraction - , and then selecting the measures to test the effects these objectives generate. This selection has been based on a literature review, searching for measures with have proven to be successful in achieving at least one of the objectives. The different policies and policy combinations have been tested in a multimodal transport model, considering the city of Madrid as case study. The final aim of the research is to find a transport strategy which produces positive impact in all the objectives established, this is a win-win strategy

ECO-ROUTING: MORE GREEN DRIVERS MEANS MORE BENEFITS?

[EN] Information and Communications Technology (ICT)/Information and Technology Services (ITS) can play an important role in the transport sector, helping in maintaining accessibility and contemporarily optimizing the use of the vehicles. Among these ICT measures, ecorouting seems a promising one. Drivers normally follow the route which minimizes their generalized costs, normally time and money. But environmental concern is increasing, and drivers are starting to think about the effects of their driving. This means including CO2 emissions or fuel consumption in their route choice. But is this always positive, independently of the traffic situation and the penetration level of green drivers? This articles aims to analyze what happens in terms of fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and travel time, when different penetration levels of drivers, and with different traffic situations, follow the route of minimum fuel consumption instead of the conventional generalized costs. The analysis is based on a modelling process using a transport model of the whole region of Madrid. A total of 18 scenarios are considered: 3 reference scenarios (for congested, medium and low flow traffic situations), and 5 different penetration levels of green drivers for each traffic situation. Results show how impact varies substantially with the level of traffic and, also, that the more the best is not always trueValdés Serrano, C.; Perez Prada, F.; Monzon De Caceres, A. (2016). ECO-ROUTING: MORE GREEN DRIVERS MEANS MORE BENEFITS?. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1261-1268. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.3250OCS1261126

The simulation of a toll-ring scheme for Madrid: an efficiency and equity analysis.

Among the interurban road pricing policies, the metropolitan road tolling policies need to be differently analyzed because of its specific characteristics. In fact, the urban and metropolitan areas intercept most of the daily journeys which contribute to congestion and which are very sensible to the toll because of their daily frequency. The mobility survey developed on the Madrid Metropolitan Area shows that from 1996 to 2004 the number of mechanized trips increased by 52%, whereas the population increased only by 14%. An efficient way to manage the increasing car travel demand could be the implementation of a metropolitan toll in the more congested road sections. One of the most popular “congestion pricing policies” is the toll-ring scheme used in Norwey (such as Trondheim and Bergen) and in Stockholm, where the vehicles are taxed when entering or exiting the city centre, especially during peak periods. In fact, a toll-ring scheme discourages orbital diversions, achieving higher efficiency and environmental benefits. A methodology to evaluate the implementation of a congestion pricing policy like a toll-ring scheme in a metropolitan area like Madrid during the peak hour will be defined. The main result of the paper is in terms of the equity effects. The comparison of two different road sections shows that in the wealthier metropolitan area, the north of the M40 ring, the burden of the toll is higher on the lower income users