STUDY ON URBAN MOBILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURES. A CASE STUDY
E. Andrés, X. Oregi, E. Alberdi, I. Alvarez, I. Eguia
Urban mobility is a puzzle that our cities face daily, which suffer great congestion, both within them and at their entrances, especially at rush hours due to heavy traffic, especially private cars due to the centralization of the car as conveyance.
Finding a solution to this problem has consisted for many years of trying to increase the capacity of roads and accesses. Not only has this been shown to be an ineffective action, as it creates an induced demand for the road and it quickly becomes congested again, but it also creates hostile environments in the city for pedestrians, cyclists, etc.
To truly tackle this problem, revolutionary ideas are not essential, but a good implementation of the technologies and concepts that have been with us for many years is enough, such as: implementation of buses or trams, creation of bicycle lane networks, intelligent planning of land uses or pedestrianization of urban areas.
One of the objectives of this work, on the one hand, is to shed light on the problems that our cities face in terms of urban mobility and, on the other, to provide solutions to a real case of urban mobility and transport in an area of Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain). For this, a state of the art has been carried out where both the main problems that exist in large cities in terms of passenger transport are exposed, as well as possible alternatives whose implementation could mitigate or even solve these issues. The work emphasizes the correct implementation and exploitation of public transport and non-motorized transport, as well as the analysis of the impact of factors such as land use and urban development that considers both public transport and mobility essential. The case of the Netherlands has also been analyzed, which is a global benchmark in regards to this type of development and leads progress in terms of sustainable urban transport. Secondly, the case of an area (island of Zorrotzaurre), located in Bilbao, is analyzed. The transportation needs are analysed, alternatives are studied to solve the problem to propose finally the best solution.
Finally, it is worth noting the alignment of this work with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for a transition of cities making them more sustainable, in terms of both energy and transport and mobility, since it seeks to shed light and present solutions to the current problems of cities and commits to other types of infrastructure, more sustainable and environmentally clean.
Keywords: Urban mobility, sustainability, real case studies, civil engineering.