EURO 2025 Leeds
Abstract Submission

916. Road Space Reallocation in Car-Low and Car-Free Urban Areas

Invited abstract in session WC-59: Urban Mobility I, stream Transportation.

Wednesday, 12:30-14:00
Room: Liberty 1.14

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Nourhan Shokry
2. Shadi Sharif Azadeh
Transport & Planning, TU Delft
3. Gonçalo Correia
Transport & Planning, TUDelft
4. Bart van Arem
Delft University of Technology

Abstract

As cities grow and transport demand rises, road congestion increases, leading to pollution and reduced space for sustainable modes such as walking, cycling, and public transport. Traditional car-centric roads infrastructure prioritizes motor vehicles, often overlooking cyclists and public transport. Shifting road space to accommodate more bikes can reduce emissions and create healthier, more accessible cities. Existing research focuses on car-oriented road space reallocation. Strategies like Intermittent Bus Lanes and Reversible Car Lanes optimize road use but still prioritize cars. Recent studies emphasize expanding cycling infrastructure but rely on permanent physical changes, making them less adaptable. This study bridges these gaps by proposing a flexible approach to reallocate road space. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear optimization model using a multi-commodity minimum-cost flow approach. The model reallocates car lanes to bicycles without modifying physical infrastructure. In Zuidas, Amsterdam, three scenarios were evaluated:(1) base case with saturated bike and car demand,(2) low-car case with 50% fewer cars, and (3) no-car case allowing only bicycles. Results show that reallocating lanes reduces bike travel time by 20% in the low-car scenario and 26% in the no-car scenario. Congested bike lanes drop by 50% in the low-car scenario and are eliminated in the no-car scenario. In addition, congested car lanes decrease by 50% in the low-car scenario.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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