Urban Transportation

A. Transportation and Urban Form

B. Urban Mobility
C. Urban Land Use and
Transportation
D. Urban Transport Problems
A. Urban Transportation :
An urban transportation system can
be defined as the set of transportion
infrastructures and modes that
support urban movements of
passengers and freight.
It generally expresses the level of
accessibility.
 B. Urban Mobility
-is defined as the
movement of people or
freight in urban areas, and
it consists of all urban
transportation systems.
Urban Mobility :

1. Urban Movements
2. Urban Transit
 1. Urban Movements
Land use
◦Specific movements are linked to specific
urban activities and their land use.
◦Involves the generation and attraction of
an explicit array of movements.
◦Factors:
◦Recurrence, income, urban form, spatial
accumulation, level of development and
technology.
Urban movements
◦Obligatory: linked to scheduled
activities (such as home-to-work
movements)
◦Voluntary: free to decide of their
scheduling (such as leisure).
Urban Transit
Urban rail transit is an all-
encompassing term for various
types of local rail
systems providing passenger
service within and
around urban or suburban areas.
Types of Urban Movements

Movement Pattern Dominant Destination

Type Time
Pendular Structured Morning and Localized
afternoon (employment)
Professional Varied Workdays Localized

Personal Structured Evening Varied with

some foci
Touristic Seasonal Day Highly
localized
Distribution Structured Nighttime Localized
Pendular movement
- a to-and- fro movement just like a
pendulum. Pattern repetitive design or
movement in the urban area.

Professional movements, local

appropriations, and the limits of educational
critique: the cultural production of mixed
messages at an urban . structured
movement and physical activity stands as
one .
 Main Purposes of Urban Trips
3%
20%

Work
Shopping
School
Business (Work)
15%
49% Business (Personnal)
Home
Other
5%
3%
5%
Typical Urban Day Trips by Modes,
Origins and Destinations
1:30 AM
Shopping mall Delivery
10:45 PM
Return
10:30 PM
Delivery
2:30 AM
8:30 PM
Return Restaurant
Drive alone 7:00 PM 1:30 PM
Drive alone 5:30 PM Walk
Drive alone

7:00 AM Home Work 12:30 PM

Walk
Garbage
pickup 8:00 AM 8:15 AM
Carpool Drive alone

10:00 AM
Passengers 10:05 AM Parcel
School Parcel Drop off
Freight Pickup
(drop off child)
 Modal Split for Global Cities, 1995
100
90
80
70 Private Motor Vehicle
60 Transit
50 Walking / Cycling
40
30
20
10
0
Chinese American Australian West High Income Low Income
Cities Cities Cities European Asian Cities Asian Cities
Cities
Mode Share for Commuting,
New York, 1980-2000
100%
90%
80%
70%
Other non walk
60% Taxi
50% Bus
40% Subway
30% Automobile

20%
10%
0%
1980 1990 2000
 2. Urban Transit
◦Dominantly an urban transportation
mode.
◦The great majority of transit trips are
taking place in large cities.
◦Conditions fundamental to the
efficiency of transit systems:
◦High density and high mobility
demands over short distances.
◦Shared public service:
◦Benefits from economies of
agglomeration related to high
densities.
◦Economies of scale related to high
mobility demands.
Transit systems
◦Many types of services
established to answer
mobility needs.
◦Variety of transit systems
around the world.
2. Urban Transit
Metro system
◦Heavy rail system, often underground
in central areas, with fixed routes,
services and stations.
◦Uniform frequency of services (peak
hours increase).
◦Fares are commonly access driven
and constant.
Bus system
◦Scheduled fixed routes and stops
serviced by motorized multiple
passengers vehicles (45 - 80
passengers).
◦Services are often synchronized with
other heavy systems (feeders).
◦Express services (notably during peak
hours).
Transit rail system
◦Fixed rail (tram rail system and
commuter rail system)
◦Frequency of services strongly linked
with peak hours.
◦Traffic tends to be imbalanced.
◦Separate fares and proportional to
distance or service zones.
Largest Subway Systems in the
World by Annual Ridership and
Metropolitan Population, 2000
Subway Ridership (billions)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

Sao Paulo
London
Hong Kong
Osaka
Population
Paris
Ridership
New York City
Seoul
Mexico City
Tokyo
Moscow

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Metropolitan Population (millions)
2. Urban Transit
Shuttle system
◦Privately (dominantly) owned using small buses
or vans.
◦Routes and frequencies tend to be fixed (can be
adapted).
◦Service numerous specific functions:
◦Expanding mobility along a corridor during peak
hour.
◦Linking a specific activity center (shopping mall,
university campus, industrial zone, hotel, etc.).
◦Servicing the elderly or people with disabilities.
Paratransit system
◦Flexible and privately owned demand-
response system:
◦Minibuses, vans or shared taxis.
◦Commonly servicing peripheral and
low density zones.
◦Door-to-door service, less loading and
unloading time, less stops and more
maneuverability in traffic.
2. Urban Transit
Taxi system
◦ Privately owned cars or small vans offering an on-call,
individual demand-response system.
◦ Fares:
◦ Commonly a function of a metered distance/time.
◦ Can be negotiated.
◦ When competition is not permitted, fares are set up by
regulations.
◦ No fixed routes:
◦ Servicing an area where a taxi company has the right (permit)
to pickup customers.
◦ Rights are issued by a municipality.
◦ Several companies may be allowed to compete on the same
territory.
Estimated Ridership of the World’s
Largest Public Transit Systems, 1998
New York

Manila

Paris

London

Sao Paulo

Buenos Aires

Beijing

Mumbai

Seoul

Hong Kong

Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto

Shanghai

Moscow

Mexico City

Tokyo-Yokohama

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000

Estimated Annual Journeys (billions)
 Millions

2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000

0
19
70
19
80
19
81
19
82
19
83
19
84
19
85
19
86
19
87

Bus
19
88
19
States, 1970-2002

89
19
90
19
91
19

Heavy Rail
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
Light Rail
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
Trips by Public Transport in the United
D – Urban Transport Problems
1. Geographical Challenges Facing Urban
Transportation
2. Automobile Dependency
3. Congestion
1. Geographical Challenges Facing Urban
Transportation
Context
◦Most important transport problems
often related to urban areas.
◦Urban productivity:
◦Dependent on the efficiency of its
transport system.
◦Move labor, consumers and freight
between several origins and
destinations.
Growing complexity of cities:
◦Accompanied by a wide array of urban
transportation problems.
◦Some problems are ancient like
congestion (Rome).
◦Others are new like environmental
impacts:
◦Notably CO2 emissions linked with the
diffusion of the internal combustion
engine.
1. Geographical Challenges
Facing Urban Transportation
Traffic congestion and parking
difficulties.
Public transport crowding and off-
peak inadequacy.
Difficulties for pedestrians
.
Environmental impacts and energy
consumption.
Accidents and safety.
Land consumption.
Freight distribution.
2. Automobile Dependency
Causes
◦Advantages of automobile use:
◦Performance, comfort, status,
speed, and convenience.
◦Illustrate why car ownership
continues to grow worldwide.
◦Factors of growth:
◦Sustained economic growth
(increase in revenue and
quality of life).
◦Complex individual urban
movement patterns.
◦Peripheral urban growth.
Factors of dependency
◦Underpricing and consumer choices:
◦Most road infrastructures are
subsidized (considered a public
service).
◦Drivers do not bear the full cost of car
usage.
◦Car ownership is a symbol of status
◦Single home ownership.
◦Planning and investment practices:
◦Aims towards improving road and
parking facilities in an ongoing
attempt to avoid congestion.
◦Transportation alternatives tend to
be disregarded.
◦In many cases, zoning regulations
impose minimum standards of road
and parking services and de facto
impose a regulated car
dependency.
 3. Congestion
◦Occurs when transport demand exceeds
transport supply in a specific section of the
transport system.
◦Each vehicle impairs the mobility of others.
◦Types:
◦Recurring congestion (specific times of the
day and on specific segments of the
transport system).
◦Random events (accidents and weather
conditions).
 Recurring Congestion
10 3
Traffic
9 2
Congestion
8 Capacity 1
7 0
6 -1
5 -2
4 -3
Unused Capacity
3 -4
2 -5
1 -6
0 -7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
The Vicious Circle of Congestion

Congestion Public
The number pressures to
of increase
movements capacity
increases
New
The average capacity
length of Movements
movements are more
increases Urban sprawl
easy
is favored
3. Congestion
Ramp metering
◦ Controlling access to a congested highway by
letting automobiles in one at a time instead of in
groups.
Traffic signal synchronization
◦ Tuning the traffic signals to the time and
direction of traffic flows.
Incident management
◦ Making sure that vehicles involved in accidents or
mechanical failures are removed as quickly as
possible from the road.
HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes
◦Vehicles with 2 or more passengers (buses,
vans, carpool, etc.) have exclusive access to
a less congested lane.
Public transit
◦Offering alternatives to driving.
End