Is "small" infrastructure the next factory for accessibility?
Evaluating the regional accessibility effects of a cycling-centric transport policy in Zurich
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Date
2024-08
Publication Type
Working Paper
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yes
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Abstract
Decades of investments into “large” transport infrastructure, such as highways and heavy rail have created immense welfare gains through increased accessibility. Today, however, further accessibility improvements in dense urban regions are only possible at rapidly growing costs. Also, the high volumes of car traffic resulting from large highway infrastructure programs conflict with the need for rapid decarbonization. In this paper, we evaluate whether shifting the policy focus toward “small” infrastructure focused on micromobility modes is a viable option for decarbonizing the transport system and creating further accessibility gains. This work analyses a road space reallocation scheme termed “E-Bike City” for Zurich, Switzerland, presented at this conference in 2023. First, we use MATSim to simulate its effects on road traffic. Second, we calculate a logsum accessibility measure for a population sample, before and after the transformation. Value-of-distance indicators from a route choice model are used to quantify the effects of cycling infrastructure, as opposed to mixed traffic. And finally, we report the changes for different population groups and reflect on the impacts.
Our first findings indicate that such a policy could strongly reduce the car traffic volumes in some areas, while slightly improving the median accessibility levels across the entire metropolitan region. However, various methodological challenges remain. Given the urgency of the underlying motivation, we want to spur a discussion about the future transport investment focus, as well as an appropriate methodological framework to evaluate the possible paths to be taken.
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published
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1888
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ETH Zurich, IVT
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Subject
Transport infrastructure investments; Accessibility; MATSim; Value of distance; Cycling
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03521 - Axhausen, Kay W. (emeritus) / Axhausen, Kay W. (emeritus)
02655 - Netzwerk Stadt u. Landschaft ARCH u BAUG / Network City and Landscape ARCH and BAUG
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