Evaluating a Proposed Urban Transportation System Using Advance Transport and Land-Use Modelling Framework

Abstract

The effect of traffic congestion, emission, and road accident on cities that depend solely on motor vehicles make them unsustainable. Increased mobility from rapid urbanization has placed great demand on the transport system of such cities. To meet the increasing demand, modelling travel demand based on the transport network has become a necessity for sustainable urban development. In this study, an advanced transport and land-use modelling framework was developed to evaluate a transport system of a proposed new city. Furthermore, transport (road) network connectivity indices were used to measure the level of connectivity of the transport network. The findings show that the proposed transport system may not support the sustainable urban development of the new city due to the low level of network connectivity. The result further revealed that about 52% of the residents will depend on auto modes of transportation making the new city car-dependent rather than transit-dependent. Specifically, all corridor road links showed a high level of traffic congestion problem. The alternative of building more rails or a bus rapid transit (BRT) system connecting the main and a new city is worth considering when proposing an urban transport system. The advanced transport and land-use modelling framework developed in this study to evaluate the performance of the transportation system could serve as a decision-support system (DSS) towards sustainable planning and development of both old and new cities.