Evaluating the role of land use and transport policies in reducing the transport energy dependence of a city

In this paper a land use and transport model is presented to calculate an indicator of “Transport EnergyDependence” (TED) in order to support the delivery of sustainable urban and transport plans. The modelis based on a mathematical description of the transport system, where transport mode choice followsideal simple rules based on distance from origin to destination and transit network accessibility. For eachtransport mode unit energy consumption, capacity and load factor are considered. Flows of trips areoptimally assigned between origin and destination zones in such a way that transport energy isminimised. Energy ideally required for home-to-school/university travel is assessed as these journeyscontribute a significant number of daily trips within a city. In particular, the model was applied to theurban area of Catania, a medium-sized town in Italy, for different scenarios, including improvements inthe transit system and in pedestrian/cycling accessibility. The methodology proved to be suitable toevaluate the potential impact of land use and transport policies in terms of transport energy dependence,separating it from behavioural considerations.