Personal accessibility as a factor in evaluation of transport plans in the province of Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Society today presents a demand for greater interchange on all levels. To satisfy this demand we need more and better transport infrastructures. As this requires a high degree of investment, not all proposals can be carried out. Plans proven to be necesary and even urgent for same people have therefore to be postponed or rejected in the face of budgetary limitations. This problem is solved by a decision-making process. This study proposes a accessibility indicator which allows us to quantify the degree of improvement benefitting the user when a new highway is built. The formula is applied to three transport plans which have been put forward as solutions to the difficult traffic conditions in the metropolitan area of Madrid. This enables us to establish a method for maximizing use of the available budget and at the same time to evaluate the user's benefit. The results confirm the validity of the method. It's calculated the degree of general accessibility (for all motives for travelling) and the degree of accessibility for journeys to work. The results permit an analysis both of overall improvement in the whole province and in each municipality thereof. In this way we can determine regional benefits of each project.