Allocation of Space and the Costs of Multimodal Transport in Cities

Cities worldwide face growing demand for mobility with limited transportation infrastructure. This dissertation addresses how street space should be allocated and how transport modes should be operated for di�fferent city structures. City structure is characterized by the density of travel demand and the amount of space available for transportation. Several costs are associated with transportation systems, including time, money, space, and externalities. Building on macroscopic models of traffic and transit operations in urban networks, the relationship between the costs of providing mobility with various transport modes and the structure of the city served is modeled recognizing that vehicles require space. Cities served by an individual mode (e.g., cars) and/or a collective mode (e.g., buses) are analyzed for three cases: constant demand over time (travelers can choose their mode); evening peak demand (travelers can choose their mode); morning peak demand (travelers can choose mode and departure time). In all cases, the system optimal use of space and modes which minimizes total system costs is identifi�ed along with a pricing strategy to achieve the optimum at user equilibrium. The results of this study show systematically how to allocate street space, operate transport systems, and price modes to minimize the costs of mobility for any city structure.