Transport Problems (Jun 2014)
The impact of public transport priority on the traffic in the chosen part of the city of Žilina
Abstract
One of the main objectives of all larger cities is to ensure effective transportation of people. There are two ways; how this objective can be reached – building of new infrastructure and effective using of the existing one. Because of the narrow streets and density of existing buildings within the city, in most cases it is not possible to extend current infrastructure. Hence, the second way is the only possible solution for such cities. Well-functioning management system improves the flow of traffic, reduces road accidents, and improves the comfort during transportation. Public transport is able to satisfy the transport requirements of a much larger number of passengers and acts more favourably than private transport in urban areas. Therefore building a public transport system of high quality, which also means public transport priority on the signal controlled junctions, is the key part of reaching the objective of ensuring effective transportation of people. In 2011, there were reconstructed roads around the Aupark Shopping Centre in Žilina. The paper is focused on traffic situation of the street Veľká Okružná; which was also rebuilt during the reconstruction. Based on microscopic modelling and road accidents data this paper compares two variants: (1) current traffic situation of this street and (2) the traffic situation, when the public transport priority was implemented during the reconstruction.
