Partner und Internationale Organisationen
(Englisch)
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Hague Consulting Group (NL), Politecnico di Milano (I), Universita di Napoli (I), Centro Studi sul Sistemi di Transporto (I), SINTRA (I), University of Leeds (UK), University of Newcastle (UK), University of York (UK), TRIAS (GR), Université ND de la Paix, Namur (B)
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Abstract
(Englisch)
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The AIUTO project is aimed to determine new methodologies, methods and models to deal with innovative transport demand management TDM) policies in urban contexts. Its concern is to provide an insight of what methods have to be used when forecasting the impacts of 'soft' transport policies, that is, transport measures that are reversible, flexible and that do not imply strong modification of existing infrastructures (e.g. parking pricing and management, road pricing, pedestrianizations, access control, etc.).
Goals:
The goal of the ITEP (Swiss team) is to test a subset of these new transport policies on the city of Geneva with the use of an innovative dynamic traffic model called 'METROPOLIS'.
Results:
The first year of the project was mainly dedicated to the joined effort of the European partners to settle a common working platform: The development of a common data dictionary, the definition of measures of effectiveness (MOEs), the classification of the various modeling approaches and the survey of innovative TDM policies likely to be applied. The Swiss partner was responsible for building a compliant database for the Geneva test site and for modifying the METROPOLIS software so as to integrate the selected TDM policies and MOEs.
The second year of the project was dedicated to the evaluation of the selected transport policies on the Geneva test site. It consisted in performing simulations of traffic scenarios and measuring the selected
indicators of effectiveness. Several extensions to the modeling approach were suggested by our UE partners: the model was extended to take into account elastic demand and non-commuting activities. Furthermore, we brought forth an extra set of MOEs that are suitable to studying congestion dynamics (i.e. average schedule delay, ratio of commuters early or late at work, experienced driving speed, etc.).
The simulations themselves were tested on various computer architectures, including PC platforms and high-performance parallel computers. A plethora of simulation tests were performed to evaluate the robustness of the model under various stresses (e.g. under excessive congestion levels) and to evaluate the accuracy of the MOEs results.
In a second phase, the TDMs selected by the AIUTO consortium were simulated. Firstly, 'classical' regulation TDMs were simulated (e.g. access control, pedestrianization, lane closing, etc.) . Secondly, we focused on TDMs that are Iikely to affect the schedule and timing of commuting activities (e.g. implementation of flexible and staggered hours).
From the analysis of simulations results and the computation of the MOEs came out two main facts:
· The use of dynamic models provided the same conclusions than the static assignment models for the classical regulation TDMs. However, in some cases, like access control, dynamic models can provide new insights and a better understanding of urban congestion.
· The implementation of city-wide schedules planning measures (like the extension of staggered and flexible hours) can yield substantial social benefits, that can even outweigh those from classical TDMs. However, these TDMs are to be complemented by restrictive measures so as to keep the level of car usage reasonable.
Really, at the overall level, the AIUTO project proposed a global modeling framework that should be able to cope with almost every state-of-the-art planning models. It proposed this framework as a guideline for the development of innovative models to be and for the implementation of models that. would be used to study the selected TDMs.
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