The objective that all growth in transport demand in cities should be met by public transport, cycling and walking, and that there should be zero growth in car traffic volumes, leads to new demands on the knowledge and practice of planners and other professionals. We are still in a deep paradigm shift, where the focus is shifting from providing the road and parking capacity requested, to developing cities and urban transport systems in ways strengthening the competitiveness of environmentally friendly transport modes.
The research group Sustainable Urban Development and Mobility contributes with research and knowledge about how different ways of developing the transport systems for walking, cycling, public transport, and car affect competitiveness between transport modes, and thus traffic volumes, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, efficiency, transport quality and how pleasant and attractive cities and urban areas are.
Among relevant topics are how characteristics of the transport systems and the cities affect whether people choose to walk and cycle, and thus how cities and transport systems can be developed to increase walking and cycling shares. How development of land use, public transport and road transport system affect public transport competitiveness - especially compared to the private car - is another important topic. How it adapted for car traffic have a major impact on land development and traffic volumes. Issues include availability and pricing of parking, including park and ride facilities, and effects of increased or reduced road capacity in urban road infrastructure. We are also engaged in discussions on how to develop relevant knowledge about congestion in urban transport systems, and how congestions could and should be understood, handled and regulated.
There are major research needs regarding effects of urban transport systems developments, separately, in combination with each other and related to land use development. The research group Sustainable Urban Development and Mobility conducts research that can help to answer important questions within this theme.
Among recently completed projects we will mention:
- How to achieve efficient public transport interchanges for travellers and for operators?
- Which kinds of P&R can contribute to reduced greenhouse gas emissions?
- Park and ride – results from surveys among users
- Parking instruments and effects
- Parking at homes and at workplaces. Effects on car ownership and car use in cities
- Experiences with capacity reductions on urban main roads – rethinking allocation of urban road capacity?
Important long-term ongoing projects in this area are:
- URBANEFF: Investigating three complex issues regarding effects of land use and transport-systems development on traffic volumes and GHG emissions. Financed by the NRC, 2014 - 2018
- KLIMATT: Knowledge and competence for climate friendly and attractive urban development, financed by Transnova and a number of county and national stakeholders, 2014 - 2017
- BYTRANS: Knowledge for developing the efficient and environmentally friendly urban transport systems for the future - Case Oslo. Financed by the NRC, 2016 – 2020
- IPTC: Public Transport and Urban Structure: Improving Public Transport Competitiveness. Financed by the NRC, 2017 – 2021
- SII: Urban development and urban transport for climate-friendly and attractive cities
