Modelling of mobility in Barcelona Metropolitan Region to assess the urban master plan

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For the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan (PDU), Barcelona Metropolitan Area needs to assess the mobility generated in the Metropolitan region by different modes of transport and in different scenarios of urban transformation. The PDU is an urban development instrument for strategic planning and acts as a connection between the territorial planning of the Barcelona Metropolitan Territorial Plan (PTMB) and the general approach of the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM). Urban development and mobility are directly related: the organisation of the city and land uses determine the demand for transport, which in turn affects the infrastructure, the urban grid and the offer of transport services.

Likewise, the infrastructure, the transport services and the impacts of mobility on the urban environment influence land uses and the form of the city. The PDU must integrate the interpretation of the expected mobility with the urban development guidelines for the metropolises of the future.

inLab FIB, through CARNET, collaborates with Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) to model demand for the evaluation of the PDU. This plan will assess the mobility generated in the area of the Metropolitan region by different modes of transport and for a range of scenarios of urban transformation.

The project is organised into two phases. The first consists of creating a chain of demand models according to the diagram of the method’s modelling stages in four steps. In the second phase, mobility demand is forecast for different time periods and scenarios of urban growth and development of the transport infrastructure defined for the PDU.

The modelling structure is illustrated in the next figure.



Transport planning tools (VISUM, PTV-AG) and statistical software (RStudio) have been used to estimate and validate the models that have been developed, considering the various data sources. Fusion and combination of several data sources is a crucial aspect of this project.

Traditionally, the urban plans have been developed without considering the transport demands induced by the new activities. The incorporation of demand models into a planning platform such as VISUM of PTV-AG could help to model more accurately the impact of the various urban actions involved in introducing the new Metropolitan Urban Plan on the road and public transport network of the AMB.

The project lasts nine months and has a budget of 60,000 euros.


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