Sustainable mobility in a mid-sized city: a multimodal approach

Abstract

Transportation systems of mid-sized cities play an important role in guaranteeing a sustainable development of the surrounding areas. Sustainable principles applied to the study of urban mobility involve the consideration of all different travel modes, as well as the territory where all modes interact and establish points of connection. Consequently, a multimodal approach is necessary, especially to encourage a more effective and sustainable use of the system and to promote greener modes of transport, like pedestrians and cyclists, or other less pollutant modes. The paper presents a case study on the city of Viana do Castelo, which is located in the North of Portugal with approximately 37000 inhabitants in 33.6 square kilometres. It is considered a mid-sized city with a large number of different transport modes, namely trains, buses, ferryboats, cyclists and pedestrians, which provide an opportunity to develop and apply a multimodal approach towards a more sustainable city environment.