Accessibility in an E-Bike City

Abstract

Decades of investments in transport infrastructure have created large welfare gains through increased accessibility. However, the current traffic patterns necessary for maintaining these accessibility levels are in conflict with the need for a rapid decarbonization of the transport system. In this paper, we evaluate the accessibility effects of an E-Bike City in Zurich, Switzerland and test whether an urban transportation system based heavily on sustainable modes modes like bicycles and public transit could still deliver the current accessibility levels. We generate an alternative transportation network within the existing road space using SNMan, a network design tool developed as part of the E-Bike City Project. Second, we use MATSim to simulate the traffic loads of the modified network and finally, calculate a gravity-based accessibility measure for every resident in the city. This paper reports on the current state of work, especially the literature, methodology and the data used, while the results are planned in a later version.