Abstract
Currently, traffic intensity in large cities and their surroundings constitute the main unsustainability factor associated with urban transport, leading to significant traffic speed reduction due to high levels of congestion. Road pricing seems to be a measure of transport policy capable of improving efficiency and sustainability in urban transport, reducing traffic intensity and increasing traffic speed, as reflected in the main road pricing indicators currently in operation (Singapore, London, Stockholm, Milan…). Based on the data obtained through a mobility survey applied to a theoretical design of road pricing for the city of Madrid, we developed a traffic speed forecast model using time series analysis, to which we applied the mobility survey results. The research results show that theoretical urban road pricing could imply very significant positive effects in traffic speed increase and congestion reduction, fundamentally in the city center and metropolitan crown, as well as demonstrating positive effects in the improvement of traffic speed in those municipalities furthest from the urban center. Moreover, our findings reveal that road pricing would allow an average traffic speed increase in the protected area of the city center during the operating hours of between 10% and 32.5%: 15.9% in the metropolitan crown, 10% in M-30, and 32.5% in the case of Madrid’s city center.
Highlights
IntroductionThe high level of urban congestion resulting from urban transportation is a consequence of the growing phenomenon of suburbanization and decentralization of employment that affects most large cities [2]
Traffic density around large cities is one of the main problems associated with urban land use, transport and social well-being; it is necessary to seek an adequate balance between the land distribution and tolerance of congestion [1] that ensures greater efficiency in urban transport systems so that the social costs of transportation are equivalent to the social benefits that this system must provide to all citizens, allowing more sustainable urban development.The high level of urban congestion resulting from urban transportation is a consequence of the growing phenomenon of suburbanization and decentralization of employment that affects most large cities [2]
The survey was applied to a sample of 1298 citizens of the community of Madrid who made regular urban trips from Monday to Friday, which would be affected by hypothetical urban road pricing
Summary
The high level of urban congestion resulting from urban transportation is a consequence of the growing phenomenon of suburbanization and decentralization of employment that affects most large cities [2] This phenomenon multiplies the amount of displacement and contributes to imposing urban mobility behavior fundamentally based on the massive use of automobiles in the absence of competitive and accessible urban public transportation alternatives that are much more sustainable. This urban congestion, which we can call structural and difficult to solve in the short and medium terms, given the high supply of existing roads [3], has become the main focus of attention for the implementation of policies and measures by urban transport authorities in order to seek to ensure a Sustainability 2021, 13, 8415. These policies include urban road pricing, which is a measure with a high level of effectiveness in reducing the problems of traffic congestion and its externalities that improves the efficiency of urban transportation, as revealed by a large number of studies on the main congestion charging systems currently in operation [5,6,7,8]
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