Mr. Julio García Ramón

Head of Municipal Traffic Department - Barcelona Spain

DEMAND MANAGEMENT POLICIES

1.- INTRODUCTION

For many years traffic congestion has been one of the major problems which adversely affect the quality of life in our cities. Although we have become accustomed to it as a feature of our daily routines, this does not mean that it should become accepted as an inevitable "fact of life". Sensitivity to the consequences of traffic congestion has led to attempts in various countries to quantify and give monetary value to such impacts - all of which have produced alarmingly high figures concerning the real resource costs.

Of the various solutions that have been to tried over the years none have produced totally satisfactory results. Nevertheless, the experts do appear to agree that whilst no single solution has been found the worst effects are best ameliorated through the adoption of a package of measures which we can classify into two groups.

The first group of measures are characterised by having as a common objective the maximisation of the utility of the available road infrastructure and include all manner of possibilities afforded by advanced technologies, they are supply policies .

The second group of solutions are aimed more at influencing the use that drivers make of their vehicles also including possibilities offered by advanced technologies. Such measures encompass the various methods utilised to inform the road user about the state of the road network and the availability of alternative ways of fulfilling the travellers' needs. As such, these measures aim to reduce the demand for road travel under those conditions when the demand exceeds the available capacity of the road infrastructure, they are demand policies.

In general these measures are well-accepted by the general public since it is the traveller who decides whether or not to accept the advice given, i.e.: actions are voluntary rather than obligatory on the traveller's part.

2.- TRAFFIC RESTRAINT AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT MEASURES

The crux of the problem of urban traffic congestion lies in the excessive or selfish use of the private vehicle . The responsible authorities have responded in various ways to try to restrain the use of the private car. Usually, the restraint measures are accompanied by complementary measures which improve the availability / quality of public transport alternatives. In general then, we can state that "demand management schemes" involve a package of measures including both restraint of nonessential use of private vehicles and promotion of alternatives so as to produce a modal shift which maintains accessibility levels and increases the use of public transport modes.

The need to implement some level of private vehicle restraint is demonstrated by the generallyaccepted failure to achieve the desired modal shift soley through improvements to the public transport system. The behavioural reasons for this can be found in the low demand-price elasticity of public transport compared to that expected for pricing schemes applied to private mobility , and in the low value that users place upon private travel costs at the time when they decide to make their journeys. Restraint measures are therefore needed, which make private travel more difficult or costly. Of particular interest is the definition of restraint measures which increase traveller awareness of private mobility costs at the moment of making trip decisions.

Most cities have, over the years, introduced traffic restraint measures. Examples of the measures that have traditionally been implemented include restrictions upon use of parts of the road network for bus and other public service vehicles (bus lanes, banned turn exemptions, etc.), pedestrianisation schemes, restrictions upon the availability of on-street parking spaces, and discriminatory tariff structures associated with on- and off-street parking.

3.- PARKING POLICIES

Parking controls - both the availability and application of tariffs - have perhaps become the widest applied and most effective measure. However, in order to be effective such policies require centralised control of a very high percentage of the supply of parking spaces. Parking policies can contribute in two ways, to shift the demand in order to increase the use of the public transport systems. In one side building new parking spaces in the residential zones with a cost available to the residents, to permit those to leave the private cars in a available space and use the alternative public transport. The other way is to make an correct price policy for the use of rotatory places, normally used as destination parking, that permits a good adequacy between the parking and street capacities.

However is important to remark that is essential a good enforcement to make any parking policy success because otherwise the policy becomes to be completely inefficient.

Economists have long held the point of view that the preferred type of restraint requires the introduction of road pricing as the most equitable and efficient solution. Road pricing schemes have, indeed, been in operation in many countries as a means of financing interurban highway schemes. However, for application to the urban situation as a control on the demand for private vehicle mobility such measures have historically been considered to be impracticable, due to technological limitations on the one hand, and due to the need to modify the institutional framework and fiscal system associated with the automobile.

4.- THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Today, telematics (the combination of telecommunications and information technologies) are offering ever-improving solutions to overcome the technological limitations. Technological progress is such that some cities are introducing pilot schemes whereby a citizen can use a single card to pay for the different transport services that s/he uses. This latest development, termed "multiservicing" offers new and interesting possibilities for tariff structures which reflect traffic policies aimed at demand management. Thus, the main remaining problems appear to be institutional ones and we need to consider how changes can be made without the risk of public rejection of the new measures.

Multiservicing offers the possibility to "chain" services together in a way that could provide exciting discounts to public transport travellers e.g.: to promote park-and-ride patronage. Pilot schemes can serve to demonstrate the benefits of such technology and to create the markets that industrial suppliers can serve. It has been argued that public transport improvements should be implemented before the introduction of restraint measures on private vehicle usage since it is easier to improve alternatives than to introduce measures which could be interpreted as restrictions upon personal mobility. However, surveys (of travellers' stated preferences) suggest that, in order to achieve appreciable modal transfers, some form of telematics-based restraint of private mobility will be needed. Furthermore, surveys indicate that public opinion concerning environmental issues is growing and non-essential use of the private vehicle is, in various segments of the population, regarded as socially undesirable.

5.- TELEMATICS APPLICATIONS

Barcelona has been developed two kinds of policies in this field.

Selected control access

Park and ride and metro system integration

The first one was implemented in the zone of La Ribera of the District of Ciutat Vella and the results were very successful.

This type of scheme uses vehicle identification technologies to extend the application of manual access control. The difficulty imposed upon drivers depends upon scheme design - those with barriers providing a physical barrier to the entry of a vehicle that does not have identifiable access rights - whilst those based upon post enforcement rely upon the imposition of fines and other penalties to dissuade the driver who does not have access rights from trying to enter. Essentially, these types of system aim to apply different rules to different sub-groups of the vehicle population. The design of such schemes involve establishing priorities for different groups and an evaluation of needs as well as demand / supply considerations is usually involved.

The second trial was installed on the parking managed by SMASSA in the Plaza Glories where several variable message signs in the routes coming into Barcelona indicates to he drivers the availability of spaces. Once you are in the parking you have all kinds of informations about the metro system, and a ticket reductions in combination with the parking cost and the results also were very satisfactory too.

References

1. GARCIA RAMON, J. "Policy on Demand Management ", Bolonia U.T.T.F. Meeting, Noviembre 1993

2. VILLALANTE, M. y GARCíA RAMóN, J. "Gestión integrada de la movilidad urbana. La participación de Barcelona en los diferentes proyectos europeos" Rutas 50, Septiembre-Octubre 1995, pág. 127-131.

3. RICHARDS, GM. "Road Pricing: The Key Issues" Proceedings -of the London Traffic Congestion Conference, Nov. 1992

4. FLYNN B. The Gaudi Project: 2 Dublin and Marseille multi-servicing experimentations. Traff Engng Control, 36(2). Febrero 1995, 82-87

5. CONSORCIO MIRO. Deliverable 8. Final Report, Junio 1995, DG XIII CEC.

6. DONATI, A. Bologna: city without cars - failures and successes. Proc. Car-Free Cities Conference, Amsterdam, Marzo 1994, 33-35

7. CONSORCIO GAUDI. Deliverable 16 Assessment of Zone Access Management v2.1, Junio 1995

8. HAYES S.,GASCON O.,CRESPO J. "El control inteligente de acceso de vehículos. Experiencias recientes en Ciutat Vella, Barcelona ". Octubre 1995