The accessibility of cities is under pressure in the Netherlands. Automated vehicles are often mentioned as a possible solution for this problem. In this study, the financial feasibility of automated buses is examined from an operator
perspective. A financial model is developed and applied on the bus network of Almere where four different levels of automated buses were compared. The comparison are based on the following factors: operational costs, investment costs and ridership. Based on the case study results, it can be concluded that automated buses that still require a driver or steward in the bus for supervision are not yet financially feasible from an operator perspective. Decreasing costs of
automated technologies can however change this financial feasibility. In automated buses where the driver is removed it could be financially feasible from an operator point of view. However, many challenges will arise in this situation regarding safety regulations, passenger acceptance and operational infrastructure domain.

The focus of this research is to provide solutions to the city of Campeche to decrease the
inundation risks generated by a hurricane with an occurrence of once in
fifty years. Campeche
is a city located at the Gulf of Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. The rapid growth of the
city is one of the reasons it is having troubles with the water and flood management of several
areas throughout the city. Although the municipality has already executed some improvements
to the drainage system during the last years, it is still lacking to cope with heavy rainfall and
storm surges due to hurricanes at several areas in the city.
In order to gain a better understanding of the location and the way it works in Campeche a
location, stakeholder and political analysis have been performed. Boundary conditions, program
requirements and preferences have been formulated based on this analysis. By examining
hurricanes over the last decades, a hurricane has been simulated with an occurrence of once in
the
fifty years. In the situation characterisation the city has been divided into several catchment
areas to determine their vulnerability (expressed in total amount of water accumulation), taking
into account the capacity of the current drainage system in the event of such a hurricane.
Four solutions have been chosen to elaborate. In this elaboration, calculations have been performed on the design and construction. For the implementation of the options suitable locations
have been determined and the possibilities and risks have been defi
ned.
In order to test the elaborated solutions on socioeconomic factors in combination with ecology,
safety and politics, a multi-criteria analysis has been performed. It can be concluded that all
options differ a lot from each other. Every option tackles another side of the problem and
therefore they score on totally different aspects. In the discussion, it is further elaborated what
the supplementary advantages and disadvantages of the proposed solutions are. Using this, the
integral system of water management measures is considered.
A few
fields can be found on which could be made an improvement in the future. Firstly,
the political system requires short term measures to count on enough support. Besides, citizens
should be kept informed and have to be made aware of the flooding problem. Drainage expansion
needs to take place in order to relief the most crucial parts in the city from their excess of water
during extreme weather conditions. Lastly, when expanding the city, the amount of green space
and inundation risks of the concerning area should be always kept in mind.