A demand-based methodology for planning the bus network of a small-medium sized town

TRAFFIC PARAMETERS ESTIMATION TO PREDICT ROAD SIDE POLLUTANT CONCENTRATIONS USING NEURAL NETWORKS

Il tram-treno per una mobilità sostenibile nelle città di medie dimensioni. Il caso studio di Trapani.

La presente memoria descrive le metodologie e i risultati degli studi condotti dagli autori per riqualificare le infrastrutture ferroviarie presenti nella città di Trapani, che attualmente rappresentano un elemento di separazione del territorio urbano, con grave pregiudizio per la mobilità interna. Il lavoro è approdato ad una proposta che prevede il mantenimento dell’attuale linea ferroviaria che attraversa la città, dedicandola all’esercizio di un collegamento tra una nuova stazione periferica ed il centro storico (il sito dell’attuale stazione) tramite tram-treno. Questa soluzione, grazie alla creazione di nuove fermate lungo l’attuale percorso ferroviario urbano e alla modalità della ma…

Criteri attuativi per l’inserimento di un sistema di percorsi verdi in aree urbane marginali: le borgate di Palermo.

Linee guida per la definizione di un "sistema integrato di verde urbano": il caso di Palermo

Accessibilità veicolare per un evento fieristico: La Fiera del Mediterraneo

Traffic Parameters Estimation to Predict Road Side Pollutant Concentrations using Neural Networks

The analysis aims to evaluate which is the most important among traffic parameters (flows, queues length, occupancy degree, and travel time) to forecast CO and C6H6 concentrations. The study area was identified by Notarbartolo Road and bounded by Liberta Street and Sciuti Street in the urban area of Palermo in Southern Italy. In this area, various loop detectors and one pollution-monitoring site were located. Traffic data related to the pollution-monitoring site immediately near the road link were estimated by Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) traffic microsimulator software using as input the flows measured by loop detectors on other links of road network. Traffic and weather data were u…

Passenger Car Equivalent for Heavy Vehicles Crossing Turbo-roundabouts

Abstract Turbo-roundabouts represent an innovative scheme of modern roundabouts which provides a spiraling traffic flow and requires drivers to choose their direction before entering the intersection, since raised lane separators mark the lanes on the ring. The configuration of the turbo-roundabout makes that patterns of conflict at entries with one and two conflicting traffic streams can coexist. This paper presents research efforts aimed at measuring quantitatively the effect of heavy vehicles on operational conditions of a turbo-roundabout. The study starts from the initial belief that the greatest constraints to the vehicular trajectories imposed by the turbo-roundabout necessarily impl…

Interazioni tra sviluppo urbanistico e sviluppo del sistema trasporti nelle aree metropolitane lineari: Il caso della città di Palermo

The theoretical concept of "linear city" (ciudad lineal), introduced by Arturo Soria y Mata in 1882, was a revolutionary idea contrasting with the traditional concentric city, dense and congested. In several international and national cities, after a historical radial development, began a linear expansion driven by different factors, i.e. insufficient land availability or absence of an organic city planning and development. In this paper, after a brief introduction and the description of the Palermo case study as a linear city, a focus on the implication of this linear structure on the urban and public transport development is presented. Finally, suggestion of innovative solutions to accomm…

“L’ACCESSIBILITÀ E LA FRUIBILITÀ DELLE SALINE DI TRAPANI”

Enhanced transport-related air pollution prediction through a novel metamodel approach

Abstract This research proposes a novel approach to improve the ability to forecast low frequency extreme events of transport-related pollution in urban areas using a limited input data set. The approach is based on the idea of a self-managing model, able to adapt to unexpected changes in pollution level. In more detail, for a given combination of variables, it selects the most suitable prediction model within a set of alternative air quality models, estimated for a wider range of locations and conditions. In this study, the new approach is tested for the prediction of nitrogen dioxide concentration in the United Kingdom (UK), specifically in an air quality monitoring site of the Greater Ma…

Microsimulation-based passenger car equivalents for heavy vehicles driving turbo-roundabouts

Due to its geometric design, turbo-roundabouts impose greatest constraints to the vehicular trajectories; by consequence, one can expect a more unfavourable impact of heavy vehicles on the traffic conditions than on other types of roundabouts. The present paper addresses the question of how to estimate Passenger Car Equivalents (PCEs) for heavy vehicles driving turbo-roundabouts. The microsimulation approach used revealed as a useful tool for evaluating the variation of quality of traffic in presence of mixed fleets (different percentages of heavy vehicles). Based on the output of multiple runs of several scenarios simulation, capacity functions for each entry lane of the turbo-roundabout w…

Il Rumore nei Trasporti: normativa, misure e strumenti di riduzione

Improving the prediction of air pollution peak episodes generated by urban transport networks

Abstract This paper illustrates the early results of ongoing research developing novel methods to analyse and simulate the relationship between trasport-related air pollutant concentrations and easily accessible explanatory variables. The final scope is to integrate the new models in traditional traffic management support systems for a sustainable mobility of road vehicles in urban areas. This first stage concerns the relationship between the hourly mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and explanatory factors reflecting the NO2 mean level one hour back, along with traffic and weather conditions. Particular attention is given to the prediction of pollution peaks, defined as exceedanc…