The Role of the Integrated Public Transport Network for Reducing the Congestion in the City of Palermo

Abstract

The railway link of Palermo is part of the Palermo–Trapani railway line, and it is located in the urban site of Palermo. Works funded by the European Union have been started in 2008 for developing a metropolitan service through the improvement of the infrastructure and of the transport service characteristics. The aim of the paper is the analysis of the capacity of the railway infrastructure in terms of frequency and integration with the public transport service of Palermo. Using the origin–destination matrix of the Urban Transport Plan of Palermo, the competition between the private car mode and the public transport mode has been simulated, taking into account the improving of the railway service, the integration with the public transport service and applying the strategies able to increase the public transport demand (parking pricing, Limited Traffic Zone, etc). A multinomial logit model has been used in order to calculate the modal split between the private car and the integrated public transport network, taking into account the attributes influencing the transport demand (cost, waiting and running time, socioeconomic factors). The results achieved from the simulation indicate that an amount between the 37 and 40% of the potential demand of users can switch from the private car mode to the public transportation mode.