The effect of a smart mobility hub based on concepts of metabolism and retrofitting

Abstract

Many countries, including Korea, are striving towards carbon-neutrality by 2050. Accordingly, this study proposes a method for cutting carbon emissions by reducing the use of passenger cars through a travel demand management scheme called mobility hub. The effectiveness of this approach has been estimated by designing a mobility hub for Seoul using a location plan and mobility design. In particular, some locations of area widely scattered transport facilities, including bus stops, subways, public parking lots, and gas stations have been selected and adjusted to design mobility hub in order to enhance mobility metabolism. A design involving smart mobility and retrofitting of the existing facilities towards the mobility hub has been presented and evaluated in the traditional travel demand modeling framework. If the mobility hub is to be implemented, a significant number of vehicles would be converted to public transportation, and vehicle kilometers traveled would be also decreased substantially. The resulting decrease in carbon emissions would contribute around two percentage reduction by transport sector in the Seoul area in the initial stage. Thanks to the design of the mobility hub, it is effective not only for the environmental benefits by modal shifts to public transportation, but also for health promotion by changing people's travel behavior.