Diapositiva 1

1
IMPROVING URBAN MOBILITY MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABLE
MEASURES IN SELECTED CITIES
Antonio Musso School of Engineering Sapienza,
University of Rome
Beijing, August 3rd, 2007
2
IMPROVING URBAN MOBILITY MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABLE
MEASURES IN SELECTED CITIES

• Introduction
• Current situation
• The case studies
• The selected measures
• Conclusions

Contents
3

• Introduction

Environmental problems linked to mobility,
congestion and energy consumption prompted many
European cities to revise their current mobility
policies. A strong support was provided by the
European Community Consequently many
municipalities had the opportunities to implement
strategies, policies or sets of measures, in
compliance with local areas, social and political
situations and available resources
4

• Introduction

Most applied strategies are based on mix of
measures, involving both private cars and public
transportation, city-wide and niche
interventions, stakeholders and end-users.
Goals to achieve are widely shared too, and can
be summarized into two simple actions incentives
to use transit and disincentives to the use of
private cars (Vuchic 1999). Such two actions
require integration and coordination among
mobility planning and management, land use,
political will and people participation
5

• Introduction

• The best practices here reported represent how
  municipalities can cope with such issues
• the common approach is based on the
  implementation of effective measures aimed at
  steering mobility issues towards more
  sustainability-based policies, at urban level, in
  order to achieve shared goals as
• reduction of traffic congestion and pollution,
• increase of accessibility
• optimization of transport management

6

• Current Situation

• Congestion is the most recurring problem in many
  European cities
• in 2001, external costs of traffic congestion
  were estimated about 0,5 of the European
  Community GDP
• the growth in the number of private cars
  increases by 3 million units per year
• the occupancy rate is about 1.2 person/vehicle
• (European Commission 2001)
• as a consequence, adaptive behaviors have been
  developed by end-users and administrators

7
- Current Situation
Number of daily exceedances of the 50 µg/m3 limit
value for PM10 in 20 European cities
The evidence is represented by the number
exceedances of the daily pollutants limit values
still recorded in many European cities
Monitored values Simulated values
Source EEA 2006
8

• Current Situation

• Regulatory tools have been progressively enforced
  by the beginning of the 90s , but more tangible
  measures were needed
• Accordingly, two approaches started to be
  observed

• By the European Commission
• (3 alternatives)
• the focus on the pricing effects
• the mix of implementing both road transport
  pricing and increasing efficiency of the other
  modes (in terms of improved quality of service,
  technology, etc.)
• the synergy of a series of measures ranging from
  pricing to revitalizing alternatives modes of
  transportation (European Commission 2001)

By local administrations pilot projects and/or
plans, from which learn pros and cons in sight of
further implementations
9

• Current Situation

• Policies, hence, started to be addressed
  according to priorities widely shared among
  virtually all the European cities.
• the resulting measures can be grouped into five
  main clusters
• Regulatory interventions
• (access restrictions, pricing, pay-for-parking,
  reorganization of goods delivery, traffic plans,
  transit fare integrations)
• Infrastructural interventions
• (pedestrianization, traffic calming, improvement
  of rail/metro/tramways infrastructures and
  facilities)
• ITS
• (telematic devices to manage and control traffic
  and transit, information interfaces between
  traffic/transit management and end-users to
  support intermodality)
• Transit measures
• (new services and new modes)
• Environmental interventions
• (purchase of clean vehicles, wreckage of old
  polluting ones, support to non-motorized and
  collective modes)

10

• The Case Studies

• Such innovation changed the gist of many
  implementations
• monothematic trials were substituted by projects
  in which municipalities had to test and to
  implement more and different measures, creating
  strategies to affect both private traffic and
  public transportation, as well as monitoring and
  assessing the results
• The following three case studies are
  representative of such, both in terms of policy
  implementations and methodological approach

11

• The Case Studies

• The city center access restriction in Rome, Italy
  
• A telematic application for parking in Cork,
  Ireland
• The goods delivery re-organization in Barcelona,
  Spain

• Differences
• - locations
• size
• urban features
• - administrative status
• regulations in force

Cork
Rome
Barcelona
12

• The Case Studies

Similarities The measures are part of bigger
bunches of interventions applied in each city and
reflect the concern of the municipalities to
solve mobility problems according to a holistic
approach
13

• The Case Studies

The common methodological process The clusters
of measures called for a common methodology that
was capable of analyzing and validating all the
implementation process steps, and controlling
external factors, as well Two main evaluation
phases
the ex ante phase do-nothing and
do-something scenarios to forecast the
mobility situation of the cities with and without
implementation of the measures
the ex post phase measurements and surveys to
assess the measures results
14

• The Case Studies

The common methodological process A set of
indicators aimed at measuring estimated impacts
can compare both the ex ante evaluations and ex
post measurement to baseline year values
15

• The Case Studies Rome, the Access Restriction
  Policy

It can be considered as a policy itself called
Set-up of city center clean zone, since it
unites several sub-measures, as

• the Access Control System (ACS), i.e. a set of
  "Electronic Gates" around the historical center
  to limit private vehicle access to central areas,
  creating a Limited Traffic Zone - LTZ
• pedestrianization of some historical areas
• (the largest the Tridente area, near the Spanish
  Steps)
• free access to central areas for catalysed
  vehicles only
• increased transit supply

16

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

The Access Control System (ACS), i.e. 22
Electronic Gates , equipped with Optical
Character Recognition - OCR infrared cameras to
identify the plates of accessing vehicles,
enforces a LTZ Operation time virtually all day
long! Mon Thu 6h30 - 18h00, Fri 6 h 30 -
18h00 and 23h00 - 3h00, Sat 14h00 - 18.00 and
23h00 - 3h00 Although not initially well
accepted by the citizens, the measure was
successful the Municipality decided to extend
the restriction from the city center to San
Lorenzo and Trastevere
City centre
Trastevere
San Lorenzo
17

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

The feasibility of the extension of Access
Restrictions to the other districts was studied
by a simulation methodology and a traffic model

• Simulation results for the Trastevere case study
• Behaviours in approaching the area
• without the measure, the majority (58) reaches
  the area by private cars
• with the measure, alternatives to cars are the
  majority (37 by mopeds and 25 park at
  boundaries)

Traffic assignment results The simulated
restriction shows a decrease of flows inside the
areas and a corresponding increase of flows on
the streets nearby caused by route diversions for
drivers who used to cross the area
18

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

Simulation results for the Trastevere case study
Modal split
Without the measure
With the measure
The wider use and high speed of mopeds also
increase the number of accidents predicted, as
mopeds are more dangerous than cars.
Safety
(Similar results for the S.Lorenzo case study)
19

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

Pollutant factors such as NOx, CO2 and PM
decrease because of the reduced amount of car
use, in contrast CO and VOC levels rise because
of the higher use of mopeds
Simulation results for the Trastevere case study
Environment
Variation of Environmental Impacts ()
20

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

Environment
Ex post results

• The comparison between both the measured 2001
  mean values and the 2004 ones showed
• A strong reduction of emissions
• 39 PM10 and benzene - 20 CO
• plus
• a 40 reduction in the number of polluting
  vehicles

This positive outcome can be considered a
combined effect of all the measures, but the
greatest benefits come from permitting only clean
private vehicles to enter central areas
21

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

Environment
Ex post results
..but above all
an appreciable reduction of concentrations -
21 CO - 11 PM10 -37 benzene
Localization of benzene concentrations coming
from passive sampler campaigns
The percentage reduction of CO and C6H6
concentrations was greater than for particulates,
probably because of the improvement in
petrol-fuelled new cars.
22

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

Transportation
Ex post results
2002 Modal Split urban area
Impacts on transportation can be also positively
assessed
49
2005 Modal Split urban area
A five point decrease () for private cars in
favor of three point increase () for walking
23

• Rome, the Access Restriction Policy

Ex post results
awareness and acceptance of measures (such as the
conversion of the transit fleet into cleaner
vehicles and the need for collective taxis or car
sharing) - from which everyone can benefit - have
dramatically risen, thus demonstrating a positive
attitude towards green modes and sustainability
issues But The measures perceived as
limitations of freedom to move, as the access
restrictions, are still not fully accepted, being
their share among people strongly decreased!
Contrasting feeling among the Romans
55
Society
3,88
3,27
satisfaction rates for access restriction (1-5
Lickert scale)
?
?
2002
2005
24

• The Case Studies
• Cork, innovative parking management scheme

Park by phone is a way of parking payment
accessible by mobile phone technology. Users must
be registered to the service

• drivers can pay parking fees by dialing the Park
  by phone number, as indicated on the closest
  street parking information sign
• thanks to the caller ID, the system recognizes
  the driver, who is asked to provide information
  on the parking location, as displayed on street
  signage.
• Accordingly, the system deduces rates and parking
  time allowed, and then checks the subscribers
  registration detail and communicates the amount
  to pay
• to agree and confirm the payment the subscriber
  has just to press a button.
• the system sends a payment confirmation by a
  receipt text message (SMS). Subscribers can also
  increase parking time in the same way

25
Cork, innovative parking management scheme
implementated in October 2005, when 60 streets
were available for parking by mobile phone

• To promote the service, at the beginning,
  discounts were available
• after 2 months of operations
• about 1,500 users had requested information
• 500 subscribed the service
• 60 use the Park by Phone service occasionally or
  more
• In February 2006
• 1,634 users

the municipality is in charge of the enforcement,
systems software, hardware and licensing and of
half of the promotion costs Maintenance costs are
borne by the Park by Phone Company.
26
Cork, innovative parking management scheme
Consolidated results from surveys and customer
care service
Society

• Easiness of use
• 69 of the customers rated the service as very
  easy to use, and a further
• 10 as fairly easy
• Reasons for use
• 79 say it is faster/easier than disc parking
• 18 because it allows remote operations
• Appreciation
• 59 find it very good
• just 3 rated it as poor
• 99 of the interviewees stated they would use
  Park by Phone again

27
Cork, innovative parking management scheme
Consolidated results
Society
Surveys on the 60 streets where the system was
implemented were run the majority called for an
expansion (respectively 32 required a large
expansion, and a further 32 requested a
slight expansion) a less positive appreciation
( the system judged as fairly adequate) was
expressed just by 17 of the respondents Such
responses will lead to treble the implementation
area in short times.
28

• The Case Studies
• Barcelona, The goods delivery re-organization

• The goods delivery re-organization in Barcelona
  can be considered, as for the access restriction
  in Rome, a policy itself, since it unites four
  sub-measures
• The redesign of loading/unloading areas
• Multi-function lanes equipped with VMS displays
• Night deliveries
• Web-info for operators called Guia Activa

Such measures are the results of the approach
chosen by Barcelona Municipality, which decided
to implement a mix of regulatory, infrastructural
and telematic-based measures
29
Barcelona, The goods delivery re-organization

• The redesign of loading/unolading areas

(since 2002)

• Multi-function lanes

Lanes can be used by buses (peak hours) and
commercial vehicles (off-peak hours) Displays
alert drivers about the permitted traffic
redesigned crossing areas at the Eixample district
a web-based route guide (since 2004)
At 5 locations (since 2003)

• Night deliveries trials

• Guia Activa

30
Barcelona, The goods delivery re-organization
Consolidated results Redesign of
loading/unloading areas Multifunction lanes
Transport

• Road occupancy rate decreased from 81 to 57
• Average road occupancy time 25,9 min
• Average operations time decreased from 19.5 to
  18.00 min
• A 12 15 travel times decrease (because of
  reduced double parking)
• Strong enforcement required at the beginning

A multifunction lane implies less parking
places. For instance 44 lots can be turned into
30 load/unload. areas.. But in this way 400
slots are possible between 10h00 and
17h00 (average stay 30 min)
31
Barcelona, The goods delivery re-organization
Consolidated results Night deliveries
Transport

• 1 trial in 2003
• a 40 tons vehicle for frozen food deliveries at
  one location
• 2 trial in 2004
• more destinations (5 supermarkets) and more
  vehicles. Operators were trained to perform
  speech-less operations

Noise measurements, comparing ambient noise
levels on nights when the delivery was / was not
being made, show that the maximum values recorded
in the street varied by only 0.1 dB(A), average
with unloading of 52.2 dB(A) Costs for making the
delivery vehicles more silent have been estimated
by the operators as recoverable within 3 years,
but.. the estimation that 2 night delivery
trips can substitute up to 7 daytime trips can
compensate both operators and residents!!!!
32
Barcelona, The goods delivery re-organization
Consolidated results Guia Activa
Transport

• Operators are provided via web-page with the most
  appropriate location for the delivery and on the
  route to reach it, thanks real time information
  on the traffic situation.
• They can also make reservations for the needed
  loading/unloading lots
• 40 redesigned loading bays (corresponding to 505
  lots) available
• participation of 8 supermarkets and 3 delivery
  operators.
• Surveys and database on operations features
  (occupancy times, fines, etc.)

33
Barcelona, The goods delivery re-organization
Consolidated results Guia Activa
Transport

• according to a survey on all the 505
  loading/unloading lots
• 36 of deliveries occur using a bay just 25 m far
  from the delivery destination, and for the half
  of them the operator has to cross the street
• 11 occur using a bay far more than 50 m
• once the operators have a proper knowledge of the
  recurring hot spots (i.e the areas with the
  highest rates of reservations), they are more
  likely to re-program the operations in less
  congested hours

Area di applicazione e tasso di occupazione
giornaliero
34
Conclusions

• Need to have a push and pull approach for
  instance in Rome, the access restriction was
  regarded as the push part, as a constraint to
  change driver behavior, whereas pedestrianisation
  was the pull part to encourage use of green
  travel modes.
• Public acceptance and awareness are two key
  factors administrators should not underestimate
  for instance in Cork, users perception of
  telematics-based measures is high, especially for
  innovative phone-based solutions. Easiness and
  fastness of use are the main reasons for such
  appreciation

35
Conclusions

• hence..
• telematic solutions can answer to issues which
  ordinary regulatory and enforcement tools are not
  able to solve, anymore..
• however..
• mobility-related problems can be faced
  implementing combination of measures, as learned
  from the Barcelonas lesson, according to a
  multidisciplinary approach in which user needs
  are the starting point to achieve shared and
  accepted solutions

36
Thank you for your attention
For any further questions, please contact the
author Antonio.Musso_at_uniroma1.it