Modeling of the road network of the city of Guimarães. A case study associated with the impact of a new road

Abstract

One of the main problems of urban road networks is the imbalance between supply and demand associated with the massive use of motorized transport, which leads to frequent traffic congestion in sensitive areas and structuring road axes of these territories. This phenomenon is one of the causes of increased levels of noise and pollution and lack of road safety in urban centers that directly affect the quality of life of populations. In order to study the impact of several changes in the road network and transportation system of the city of Guimarães, this article presents the procedure for modeling and allocating traffic to the city's road network through the use of PTV Visum software. In this context a possible conclusion of the ring road - main arterial route of the city, by the slope of Monte da Penha, was studied for the morning and afternoon peak hours. In order to carry out this study, the Origin-Destination matrix was estimated for those two periods, which allowed to conclude that the traffic volume in the area of the ring road already constructed will suffer a reduction, while in the city center roads the changes in traffic flows will be insignificant.

Modeling of the road network of the city of Guimarães. A case study associated with the impact of a new road. Modelação da rede viária da cidade de Guimarães. Um estudo de caso associado ao impacto da construção de uma nova via. Paulo Ribeiro;pauloribeiro@civil.uminho.pt Universidade do Minho/ CTAC Luís Gonçalves - a65183@alunos.uminho.pt PhD student: Universidade do Minho/ CTAC Abstract One of the main problems of urban road networks is the imbalance between supply and demand associated with the massive use of motorized transport, which leads to frequent traffic congestion in sensitive areas and structuring road axes of these territories. This phenomenon is one of the causes of increased levels of noise and pollution and lack of road safety in urban centers that directly affect the quality of life of populations. In order to study the impact of several changes in the road network and transportation system of the city of Guimarães, this article presents the procedure for modeling and allocating traffic to the city's road network through the use of PTV Visum software. In this context a possible conclusion of the ring road - main arterial route of the city, by the slope of Monte da Penha, was studied for the morning and afternoon peak hours. In order to carry out this study, the Origin-Destination matrix was estimated for those two periods, which allowed to conclude that the traffic volume in the area of the ring road already constructed will suffer a reduction, while in the city center roads the changes in traffic flows will be insignificant. Resumo Um dos principais problemas das redes viárias das cidades é o desequilíbrio existente entre a oferta e procura associado ao uso massivo do transporte motorizado que conduz a frequentes congestionamentos de tráfego em zonas sensíveis e eixos estruturantes destes territórios. Este fenómeno é uma das causas do aumento do nível de ruído e poluição e redução da segurança nos centros urbanos que afeta diretamente a qualidade de vida das populações. De forma a estudar o impacto de várias alterações na cidade de Guimarães é apresentado neste artigo o procedimento de modelação e afetação do tráfego à rede viária da cidade através da utilização do software PTV Visum. Neste âmbito estudou-se uma possível conclusão da Variante - principal via arterial da cidade, pela encosta do Monte da Penha, para a hora de ponto da manhã e da tarde. Para efetuar o seu estudo foi estimada a matriz Origem – Destino para as duas horas de ponta a partir de dados de contagem de tráfego, tendo-se concluído que o volume tráfego no troço da circular já construída sofreu uma redução do tráfego, mas sem que se verificassem grandes alterações nos fluxos das vias do centro da cidade