Journal of Urban Mobility (Dec 2021)
Comprehensive spatial and cost assessment of urban transport options in Munich
Abstract
The constant introduction of new mobility options in urban transportation complexifies the mode choice of individual users. Relevant indicators have to give users a reliable guideline for mode choice as well as giving municipalities and industry a reasonable guideline for strategic orientation. Therefore, in this paper, a comprehensive assessment of transport options is conducted for indicators such as travel time, costs, CO2 emissions and external costs. The main added value of this paper is the method employed: Trips with origin-destination (OD) coordinates are routed for different transport modes using Open Trip Planner (OTP). In the next step, a cost model calculates these indicators for all transport modes. The presented method can compare privately-owned vehicles with different propulsion types with conventional as well as new public mobility services from a spatial perspective within the Munich area as a case study. The comprehensive information provided by these results helps mobility stakeholders in the decision-making process. The thematic analysis potential of the method is shown in figures which present the efficiency and sustainability of transport modes in different contexts. Recommendations for individual users, the mobility industry, and political decision-makers can be derived from these figures to implement measures for more sustainable and efficient mobility. Results include, that i) Individual users are more cost-efficient when using shared mobility services depending on the annual mileage (below 5,000 km for cars); ii) electric vehicles will be the most cost-efficient propulsion type and, at the same time, have the lowest CO2 emissions. The visualized interdependencies between the guiding principles for transport planners and transport modes allow providers of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platforms to integrate a variable pricing system according to these principles. Pricing models will be investigated in further studies.
