A multi-modal accessibility model for workplace locations - framework for integrated land-use and transport development

• Applicants: Dr.-Ing. Benjamin Büttner; Professor Dr.-Ing. Gebhard Wulfhorst
• Subject Area: City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning ; Traffic and Transport Systems, Intelligent and Automated Traffic
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 401093473

Economic prosperity and social interaction require mobility. However, increasing transport activities have negative effects. They are evident in many places, especially during daily commuting hours. Current trends, like flexible, digital work or efficient, autonomous mobility, will not be able to completely solve this dilemma. Integrated land use and transport strategies are the key to enable sustainable mobility practices in the long term.In this context, the project will shed light on the spatial development of workplaces by means of an accessibility model. Previous approaches focus on the development of residences, consider one transport mode only or are too complex and inflexible to be useful for planning practice. The proposed project therefore aims to:- Identify the levers for influencing the mobility behavior of employees and explain the strength and direction of impacts,- Develop a multimodal accessibility model, which enables sustainable workplace development with respect to mobility,- Improve the understanding of accessibility analysis for spatial planning processes and support decision makers in selecting appropriate accessibility measures based on their planning goals.Existing empirical data will be used to analyze the effects of different influencing factors on the mobility behavior of employees. In a second step, specific goals for sustainable mobility will be defined. Accessibility will then be conceptualized based on these goals. An integrated development of land use and transport requires a balance between two components: the accessibility of a workplace location and the employment density at this location. The accessibility model will be applied in the Munich Metropolitan Region in order to exemplarily explore development options and thus verify the usefulness of the tool. The implications of the pre-defined planning goals, as well as the effects of different scenarios, for example increasing intermodal mobility, will be mapped and assessed.Accessibility based planning for workplace locations represents an important step towards an integrated land use and transport development in functional urban growth regions. The transferability of the model is crucial in the context of global challenges related to sustainable mobility and will be considered during the development.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants