Prioritizing Urban Corridors for Multilevelization Using Benefit-Cost Analysis

Providing sufficient supply considering future demand is one of transportation management policies these days. Urban multilevel highways can positively affect congested streets by increasing network operational speed and decreasing delay time though it is costly. The current paper aims to present a methodology for comparing the multilevelization capability of urban corridors considering transportation and economic parameters. Mashhad which is one of the main cities of Iran is chosen as the case study. Primary corridors are identified among the most effective main streets of the city. As a result, ۶ selected corridors are modeled in a macroscopic software and analyzed. Benefit assessment is done based on two factors: network total traveled time (Vehicle. Hour of travel) and network total traveled distance (Vehicle. Kilometer). Next, the benefit to cost ratio is calculated for a ۱۰-years period employing VHT reduction and decrease in fuel consumption and air pollution as benefits, and construction and maintenance costs as cost. The results show that the best scenario is multileveling Ferdowsi street.

Keywords:

Multilevel corridors , Benefit to cost , VHT , fuel consumption , air pollution