Impact of urban development alternatives on transportation fuel consumption. Transportation Research Record.

Wilson, Stephen C. Smith, Robert L.

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SEPARATA

Local officials need information about the transportation fuel consumption impacts of alternative urban development patterns to improve the local land use decision-making process. In this study, the feasibility of using simplified travel demand and fuel consumption models to evaluate the transportation fuel requeriments of urban development alternatives is demonstrated. The greater Madison, Wisconsin, urban area is used as a case study to examine the marginal impacts of three alternative residential and two alternative commercial development scenarios for the year 2000. Simplified modal choice and automobile occupancy models are used to test the impacts of transit, ridesharing, and vehicle fuel economy improvements on transportation fuel requirements. To reduce the computing time requirements, the highway network speeds are assumed to be the same for all scenarios. Thus only a single trip distribution (gravity) model is required to evaluate each scenario. The fuel consumption analysis provides support for several regional development plan policies. Average trip length can be reduced by locating population and employment in the same subregion. Concentration of commercial development in the central Madison area will reduce fuel consumption somewhat, primarily because of higher transit use. Development in rural areas should be limited because of high per capita fuel consumption. The reductions in fuel consumption for the most energy efficient development scenarios range from 7 to 15 percent, which are similar to the reductions that were obtained with the transit and ridesharing improvement options. In contrast, reductions of 38 percent are expected from improvements in vehicle fuel economy.

Presenta tbls.

ESTADOS UNIDOS; CONSUMO DE COMBUSTIBLES; SECTOR TRANSPORTE; DEMANDA DE ENERGIA; DESARROLLO URBANO; ALTERNATIVAS;