Planning of an Integrated Urban Transportation System based on Macro – Simulation and MCDM/A Methods

Abstract

The paper presents the planning process of an integrated urban transportation system (IUTS) for a medium sized metropolitan area. The proposed approach has a universal character and can be applied by city planners, traffic engineers and municipal authorities in strategic planning of urban transportation systems and designing advanced transportation solutions. It focuses on the integration of both public and private transportation within the metropolitan area. The overall objective of the integration is to enhance the traveling standards within the metropolitan area resulting in the change of the residents’ traveling habits and behavior and modification of the modal split. The proposed planning process is based on macro simulation and Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM/A) methodology. The macro simulation software VISUM is applied to generate different scenarios (variants) of an IUTS. These variants are designed heuristically, based on the analysis of the existing urban transportation system and evaluated by a consistent family of criteria which takes into account interests of different stakeholders. In the evaluation process the Electre III/IV method is applied. Based on the questioner survey and interviews the preferences of the city authorities -decision maker (DM) are recognized and transferred into the preference model characteristic for the applied method. Computational experiments lead to the final ranking and selection of the most desirable IUTS.