IMPROVING SUSTAINABLE URBAN ACCESSIBILITY: A MULTIMODAL PLANNING MODEL USING GIS

Ola Abboodi

doi:10.71229/9w0vn533

Authors

Ola Fadhil Abboodi Department of Preparation and Training, General Directorate of Education, Wasit

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71229/9w0vn533

Keywords:

Sustainable Accessibility Multimodal Planning Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Travel Time Reliability Spatial-Temporal Analysis

Abstract

Evaluating and improving sustainable urban accessibility constitutes a foundational challenge for contemporary metropolitan areas grappling with severe traffic congestion, irregular urban sprawl, and multi-modal transit inefficiencies. Traditional spatial planning often relies on static macroscopic accessibility metrics that fail to account for time-varying traffic friction, stochastic intersections, and the operational interdependencies between diverse transit modes. This comprehensive literature review systematically evaluates the evolution of urban accessibility modeling, contrasting conventional aggregate frameworks with high-resolution, spatial-temporal Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) probe data integrations. By synthesizing global methodologies and localized urban dynamics—with a particular focus on complex, high-friction arterial networks such as those observed in Baghdad—this paper establishes a robust conceptual framework for a multi-modal planning model. The analysis delves into mathematical formulations of gravity-based models, cumulative opportunity indices, and travel time reliability metrics, including the percentile buffer index. The synthesized findings underscore that intersection control delay, mixed land-use friction, and the absence of integrated non-motorized transport (NMT) infrastructures are the primary determinants of urban accessibility degradation. Ultimately, this review bridges the gap between empirical traffic engineering data and macro-level urban planning, providing a cohesive foundation for deploying automated, multi-modal spatial decision support systems.

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