Modelling Impacts of Mobility Hubs in Residential Areas

Abstract

With the number of passenger cars increasing worldwide, shared modes are being introduced in addition to public transport and active modes to reduce private car usage. The concept of mobility hubs was introduced to improve the accessibility of the different available transport modes. At a mobility hub, all sorts of mobility come together, and additional facilities such as pick-up points and restaurants are added to increase the attractiveness of the hub. Based on stated-preference surveys and expert interview reports, it was identified that mobility hubs could change people's travel behaviour in the region where it is located. However, these studies only provided insights and were insufficient to assess the mobility hub’s impact on the transport network. The parking demand in residential areas is also increasing pressure on residents to switch to different modes, and these hubs could play a key role in providing alternate transport options. As a result, this research aims to study the impact of mobility hubs in a residential area on the transport network in which it is placed. This study identifies the typology of mobility hub suitable for a residential area and the components required at the hub. This study also proposes a generalized methodology for introducing mobility hubs with shared modes in aggregate transport models. A case study is performed on the Delft transport network in OmniTRANS based on the proposed methodology to understand the impacts the mobility hubs can cause. In this case study, only the shared modes are assumed to be available at the hubs, and the additional facilities are not considered. Based on the simulation results, it was found that the travel behaviour changes majorly in the residential regions where the mobility hubs have been modelled. The private car trips were found to decrease marginally, but the total number of car trips, including both private and shared cars, increased. This research recommends further research on people's behaviour in the region in the form of pilot studies before modelling for simulation as people’s behaviour varies from region to region.