Speakers
Description
Street experiments are highly effective tools for increasing the efficiency of decision-making and planning processes. They allow citizens to gain experience related to the implementation, provide feedback, and offer an opportunity to observe how projects function in real life and help identify and minimize unforeseen issues at the “experiment” phase before the actual implementation. Additionally, citizen feedback contributes to aligning projects more closely with societal needs and fosters a participatory approach in the planning process.
Maltepe Municipality is a local government with extensive experience in street experiments. Previously, the municipality carried out participatory tactical urbanism projects in various areas focusing on different concepts1. This time, under the ACCTRA project, a new street experiment has been designed with a focus on micro mobility.
Micromobility modes, such as e-scooters and bicycles, have the potential to expand the catchment area of public transportation (PT) stations. To that end, this street experiment leverages the popularity and increased use of micromobility vehicles, and integrates micromobility to a PT station via an Exclusive Micromobility Lane (EML) on a local feeder street to strengthen multimodal connectivity. The EML lane was designed to connect an existing bicycle lane to a Light Rail Service Station located in Maltepe, and act as an additional feeder mode for micromobility vehicles that ensure safe and comfortable connection to the selected PT station.
Project area was selected due to various its advantages such as flat surface, access to public transport, the residents’ experience from previous street experiments, participation culture of local people and access to an existing bicycle route. The project offers an invaluable opportunity to make an evidence based and participatory decision-making process with the collaboration of governmental bodies and academic institutions.
In addition, as part of the ACCTRA project an online survey was administered to investigate travelers’ mode choice decisions in Istanbul and the potential impact of EMLs. The survey collected data from 1,000 residents of Istanbul regarding their current travel behavior, perceptions of various micromobility modes, and preferences through stated choice (SC) experiments. These SC experiments provided a robust framework to analyze travelers' preferences across different transportation options and to estimate the impact of EMLs on mode choice. SC experiments included two primary types of journeys: solo car trips and multimodal PT trips, which combined an access/pre-transport segment with the PT journey itself. Each participant was presented with six choice scenarios, each featuring four distinct transportation mode options: solo car, bus-train, e-scooter-train, and walking-train. The survey data were analyzed using a mixed logit model to assess the influence of various trip attributes, such as cost, travel time, comfort, and the availability of an EML on PT station accessibility. The results provide insights into the role of micromobility in enhancing PT accessibility and shaping mode choice preferences.
References
1 Beyazit, E., Akcakaya Waite, I., Balik, H., Erturan A., Keşan, .B., (2023), “Improving women's accessibility to public transport through participatory street experiments: The case of Maltepe, Istanbul”, Journal of Urban Mobility, Volume 4, 2023, 100062, ISSN 2667-0917, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urbmob.2023.100062.
| Keywords | Street Experiments; Mobility; Tactical Urbanism; Micromobility; Acceptance; Participatory Planning |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
