Free-floating moped sharing systems are becoming more and more popular and provide new ways to travel inside urban areas. The vehicles offer the flexibility of one-way transportation, though the downside is that it creates a spatiotemporal imbalance of the vehicle distribution within the system. The operators of such systems are challenged to cope with this imbalance by either applying an operator-based relocation or user-based relocation strategy. As studies on operator-based relocation strategies are in abundance, this research focused on user-based relocation. A user-based relocation strategy assumes the participation of the user, though (monetary) incentives are required to encourage users to participate in the process of relocating vehicles. This research assessed how vehicle choice is influenced by these price deviations (dynamic pricing) through a context-related stated choice experiment. The dynamic pricing user-based relocation strategy was also tested on a real-life moped sharing system to assess the influence on the system performance. At last, an observed vehicle choice experiment was conducted to evaluate the trade-off by users between discounted vehicles and walking distance. The outcomes presented in this report ought to apply to other vehicle sharing systems with equal design and management configurations.

As the airports keep on growing, the need to offer sufficient landside public transport access becomes more important. When the public transport stations at airports have a hub function within the network, challenges arise that need to be identified. Within this thesis report, a method is proposed to analyze the challenges.

The popularity of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been growing rapidly over the past years, where more and more cities add BRT to their public transport systems. Roundabouts are also growing and are popular intersection designs because they are one of the safest types of intersections and improve traffic flow. It is, therefore, likely that in some cities a BRT route will go through a roundabout. To keep the priority of BRT and the safety effects of a roundabout, the evaluation of roundabouts with BRT based on safety and level of service (performance) of all modes is investigated. Some countries have already developed and built solutions for roundabouts with BRT, where the priority of the buses can differ. One solution, often called throughabouts, is where the exclusive bus lanes go through the centre island of the roundabout, giving full priority to the buses. However, few guidelines have been developed on roundabout solutions with BRT and there seems to be a disagreement about the effectiveness of these types between some countries. This thesis aims to reduce this research gap by developing an evaluation methodology that compares and evaluates different design solutions of roundabouts with BRT based on the safety and level of service of all modes. The evaluation methodology is also able to determine which design solution is the most optimal. The methods used to compare and evaluate the designs in the methodology are literature review, multicriteria analysis (MCA), microsimulations and calculations, and a case study. A case study of a roundabout in Reykjavik, Iceland is used to illustrate and test the methodology. Three design solutions are compared and evaluated where the priority configuration of the BRT is changed for each design. Design 1 is a regular roundabout where the buses drive through the intersection in mixed traffic. Design 2 is a throughabout where there are traffic signals for all entering traffic, and design 3 is a throughabout where there are traffic signals for the conflicting traffic. These designs are evaluated based on the traffic performance indicators of total throughput, travel time, and variation in travel time, and the safety indicators of number and types of conflicts for vehicle – vehicle conflicts and active mode – vehicle conflicts, and costs. These indicators are obtained by the output of a VISSIM model and using SSAM for the safety calculations. MCA is used to compare and evaluate the designs. This results in that throughabouts with traffic signals for conflicting traffic prove to be the most optimal designs for roundabouts with BRT. They are also both the safest and best performing design solution. This thesis addresses the research gap of disagreement of the effectiveness of the roundabouts by showing that throughabouts are effective, however, to determine their full effectiveness, further research is recommended on comparing throughabouts with other types of intersections. This thesis developed an evaluation methodology which can be used to evaluate and compare different design solutions which can be used to decide which design is the most optimal for intersections.

This thesis describes a methodology for adding information about the preferences for new modes from external discrete choice models to exisiting transport demand gravity models. The methodology consists of 4 steps: (i) translation of deterrence functions towards discrete choice utility functions; (ii) linearization of non-linear translated utility functions, (iii) determination of factors to correct the scale of external models and (iv) the specification of the combined model. The thesis provides a case study related to "Urban Mobility as a Service" for the Eindhoven-Veldhoven area to show the practical validity of this methodology.

The agent - based modeling of freight transport that captures both the variety of actors and their complex decisions has not made as much progress as in passenger transport. Efforts towards agent-based models must include firms. However, the synthesis of a firm population in the context of urban freight transport has gotten little attention in literature. This research focuses on synthesis of a firm population for urban freight transport demand model. It uses literature review to define the firm agents and specifies a general population synthesis model based on iterative proportional updating (IPU). The model is then implemented on a case study on the province of South Holland. The utilized data is open, free-of-charge data offered by the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) of The Netherlands. The synthesis uses a sample-free, indicator-based approach to initialize the IPU-based model. The results show correlation between firms’ distribution and urban density of neighborhoods for most of the population. However, the suitability of a neighborhood to host a firm type has a more nuanced definition that cannot be encapsulated in a single indicator. More robust, economic-sector specific indicators are needed to disaggregate firm agents to neighborhoods and finer levels. Further research into IPU-based, sample-free firm synthesis models is recommended.

The traditional transport hubs are shaping into the idea of the mobility hubs with the advent of multiple vehicle-sharing forms, such as bike-sharing and car-sharing. Also, a gradual shift in the culture of consumption towards more usage and less ownership, as well as the shared economy supported by internet platforms and mobile apps, allows easy access to multiple daily mobility choices, especially in urban environments. The Mobility hubs seek to merge conventional public transport with these new shared services which have the potential to serve as a solution to the first/last mile problem within the public transport and will allow operators increase their ridership. Transport demand models are used to forecast future travel demand but consider the same travel behaviour as that of today. Mobility Hubs have the potential to change the travel behaviour of travellers and travel demand models should not only be able to forecast the future travel demand but also take into consideration the potential changes in travel behaviour due to the mobility hubs. This study deals with a microsimulation travel demand model, OCTAVIUS and to identify the extent to which such a microsimulation demand model can capture the travel behaviour associated with the future mobility hubs.

Modern cities are seeking possibilities to create healthy, sustainable and liveable urban environments. Yet these endeavours should not come at the expense of the accessibility of the city. Therefore, many cities try to promote the use of sustainable modes of transportation by developing transit-oriented neighbourhoods. An ongoing debate related to these developments is the development timing of the public transport connection. Even though it is generally assumed that early provision of public transport is favourable, the significance of this notion has not yet been studied, and the considerations of the different parties involved in the decision making process in practice are unclear. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore what development strategy of public transport in a residential area results in high ridership levels while still being feasible for the different parties involved. This is done through an evaluation of both the influence of development timing on travel behaviour and an evaluation of the development process based on stakeholder interviews. The results suggest that it is indeed beneficial to provide public transport from the moment the first inhabitants start to live in the area. However, the study also revealed that provision in a later stage does not necessarily mean that it is doomed to fail, as the car-ownership levels can slowly decrease in the years after the public transport is provided. The stakeholder interviews show development strategy needs to be tailored to the specific development, as the feasibility of a development strategy and the need for early provision are highly dependent on the location and the budget available for the subsidisation of public transport is limited. Thus, a tailor made solution is required for each location.

The effects of e-commerce on consumer mobility are studied by means of a structural equation modelling analysis. Shopping value and orientation preferences directly affect shopping frequency in the online and offline environment, besides an indirect effect from shopping value via orientation preference to shopping frequency is found significant. The results are different for various product categories. Although the model was not found significant for explaining shopping trip frequency or kilometrage, the results for shopping frequency are a good starting point for evaluating the impact of e-commerce on consumer mobility. The main conclusion is that e-commerce may substitute for the functional part of shopping, however the activity of shopping as a form of leisure is highly valued by many consumers. For local authorities this appreciation of shopping should be respected when developing city centres.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed travel behaviour and mobility in the Netherlands. It is questioned if the mobility system is subject to long-lasting change in the near and distant future. This study aims to observe the development of mobility impacts over time with a quantitative approach. Current traditional transport models have difficulties implementing uncertainties such as the mobility disruptions of COVID-19. These models lack the exploratory nature to cope with quickly arising events and changes. Using system dynamics, a model is developed to observe the mobility impacts of disruption and trends in transportation. The developed model and alternative transport modelling approach are tested and validated by applying the case of the COVID-19 mobility disruptions in the Netherlands. By including a tele-activity alternative in the mode choice component of the model, an option not to travel is modelled as a contender to the traditional modes of transport using choice models. Subsequently, applying the model to the COVID-19 situation provided insight into new relations and understandings of the development of the mobility impacts over time in the near and distant future. It was found that the future attractiveness of modes of transport changes as a result. Travellers' preference for private modes of transport will remain high in the forthcoming years, causing public transportation to recover slowly. It can be concluded that the system dynamics modelling approach is beneficial and has accomplished the design of a model widely applicable to COVID-19 and other mobility disruptions.

Vietnam is one of the five countries that is severely affected by the consequences of climate change. The extreme weather conditions and the increase of the sea level results in floods in the Mekong Delta, located in the South of Vietnam. Can Tho city, found in the heart of the Mekong Delta, is one of the cities that copes with water related issues on a regular basis. To be prepared for the future, the environmental and infrastructural issues need to be tackled. The resiliency of Can Tho got included of the World Bank program. The objective of this project of the World Bank is to reduce the flood risk in the urban core area and to improve connectivity between the city centre and the low risk urban growth areas. The structural solutions of the polder will be sluice gates, tidal sluice gates, the construction of river embankment, rehabilitation of the drainage system and constructing two regulation and water retention lakes. Additionally, building dykes with new roads and expanding or building new bridges will increase the connectivity of the city. All these measures will contribute on the resiliency of the city. The aim of this report is to identify the impact of the polder on the city, considering the infrastructural and the hydraulic aspects. To measure the impact, the current situation is simulated into two models, an infrastructure model and a hydraulic model. The results of hydraulic model show whether and when locations are flooded, whereas the aim of the infrastructure model is to identify flows on the network, the connectivity of the city and the flow changes after implementation of the new roads.

Extensive research is available on travel choice behaviour which occurs during evacuations in case of natural disasters. Due to the disadvantages of existing data collection techniques, more research is needed to better understand evacuation choice behaviour. The main objective of this thesis is twofold: (1) to develop, apply and assess a new experimental set-up to study evacuation choice behaviour and (2) to quantify the effect of herding on evacuation choice behaviour. The developed experimental set-up consists of the serious game Everscape and a questionnaire. In Everscape, participants are confronted with an earthquake and have to evacuate from a tsunami. The Everscape data consist per second of the exact location and viewing direction of each participant. The questionnaire collects information on characteristics of the participants (e.g. age, gender) and focusses on what participants did during the Everscape part of the experiment and why they did this. In total 14 experiments were conducted in which around 400 people participated. The data collected with these experiments were analysed and two main conclusions were drawn. On the one hand, the results support results from literature, meaning realistic evacuation behaviour is found with the experimental set-up. On the other hand, a first step is made towards validly quantifying the effect of herding behaviour on evacuation decisions with empirical data.@en

Passenger travel characteristics (PTCs) are characteristics that are sought from the information contained in trips, such as travel frequency, travel mode, departure location, and etc. Understanding PTCs can help develop passenger-oriented planning and service policies, so analysis of PTCs is a topic of constant interest to researchers and transportation service providers. However, PTCs vary with the change of many factors, such as network, price policy, service. The process or trend of PTCs change, which is called the evolution of PTCs, are useful for assessing the impact of external factors changes on passengers.