Institute of Transportation, Research Center of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering

Sustainable urban areas are widely considered a promising target for every city. Different policies are being designed in order to tackle the multifaceted range of transport-related problems in urban agglomerations and therefore contribute significantly to the overall quality of life in cities. The recently published communication “Green Paper - Towards a new culture for urban mobility” [1], clearly says that “European towns and cities are all different, but they face similar challenges and are trying to find common solutions”: for making our cities sustainable. This is not a minor task. Over 60% of the population lives in urban areas and 85% of the EU’s gross domestic product is created in urban areas [1,2].
All around Europe, increased traffic, both in the city centre and the metropolitan area is a common phenomenon. Externalities measured in terms of delays, pollution, stress, inequities, etc.; drive our cities into a spiral of degradation. On the other hand, climate change is recognized as an international problem where all are involved. The increase in traffic and the ‘stop-go’ nature of driving in urban areas implies that cities are becoming a major and growing source of CO2 emissions. Lot of hope has been pinned on technical progress. However, this can be insufficient due to the uncertainty over when new reliable fuel or vehicles technologies will be introduced. For that reason, the focus is more and more shifting to market-driven instruments, like taxation measures, which, apart from creating incentives [3, 4] to develop and use low-emission technologies, can also reduce unsustainable mobility demand [1].

Transport plays a major role in our daily lives. The characteristics of a transport system influence the structure of our economy, the settlement structure and, as a consequence, the social and natural environment.The simulation model MARS (Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator), developed by the Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering at the Vienna University of Technology, is used to assess

... Accessibility in ... in transport policy appraisal,” World Conference on Transport WCTR04. Istanbul. ... Pfaffenbichler, PC, 2003, The strategic, dynamic and integrated urban land use and transport model MARS, Metropolitan Activity Relocation Simulator), Institut fuer ...

Sustainable urban areas are widely considered a promising target for every city. Different policies are being designed in order to tackle the multifaceted range of transport-related problems in urban agglomerations and therefore contribute significantly to the overall quality of life in cities. The recently published communication “Green Paper - Towards a new culture for urban mobility” [1], clearly says that