Study The Model For Metropolitan Area Commuting Transport

The thesis, Research on Metropolitan Area Commuting Transport("MACT"hereafter) Model in China, presents a brief introduction on the scope, key points,objects, characteristics and major contents of the research in its preamble, and thencompletes the research through 7 chapters: the current situation and developmenttrends in Yangtze Delta Area, the current situation and analysis of international MACTs,theoretical review on transport models on MACT, development strategy and demandprediction for MACT, planning techniques in transport means in MACT, assessmentsystem for planning MACT as well as summary and outlook.It is put forwarded that a comprehensive transport system is the foundation andlifeblood to guarantee the smooth movement of both passengers and materials topromote the economic and social development in Yangtze Delta Area, which is actingas one of the most typical and vigorous economic region in China. The significantdifference between MACT and regional comprehensive transport system is mainlyattributed to a big and powerful central metropolis as the support to provide influentialradiation to periphery areas and attracts evident centripetal commuter travels in MACT.It is concluded that Shanghai MACT("SMACT" hereafter) has been objectivelyformed and foundations have been ready for its further development. It is pointed outthat MACT development model is the key point for regional economic and socialdevelopment in China.After introducing the city cluster, concept and characteristics of internationalMACT, the specific examples in terms of travel volume, distribution and structure aswell as road and rail systems are analyzed, and the features are defined respectively. Itis found that Tokyo model is rail-dominated, Los Angeles car-dominated, Londonmodel rail and road-hybrided, New York model commuter rail and car-hybrided.Combing with the geographic and economic characteristics of Chinese MACT, it is putforwarded that Chinese MACT should emphatically draw lessons from the Tokyo andLondon models.It is found that the process during which a city transforms into a metropolis is inthe same period that the transport issue emerges from a supporting role to a leadingplayer. The trends, motivations, key points, conditions and drivers for citiestransforming into metropolis are defined. It is shown to establish MACT is the inevitable choice for metropolitan transport system and its basic feathers are drawn, inwhich the choice of transportation model is the major content and implementationapproach. It is found that MACT is a huge network with hubs as its major intersectionsand foundation, and seamless connection by multiple transport means as the pillar forsupporting the network. In this standpoint of view, it is put forwarded that the publictransmission hubs are the core of the MACT, park & transfer are the prerequisites oftransport means chain, public transmission hubs are the basis to improve the efficiencyof public transport system, rail hubs are the crux of rail network expansion, and freightlogistics hubs are critical for the improvement of freight transport efficiency and thedevelopment towards the modern logistics system.MACT model in China is set up by taking example of Shanghai. ShanghaiMetropolitan Area (SMA) refers to a metropolitan cluster including 16 cities inprefecture level or above with close economic ties in the Yangtze Delta EconomicRegion, i.e. Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou,Zhenjiang, Nantong, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Huzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Zhoushan andTaizhou. SMACT refers to the transportation system integrated with the mature roadand rail transport system in SMA. In the following 15 to 20 years, the ring structure ofSMACT will be as follows: the center of the ring is the People's Square of Shanghai.The first level ring covers Shanghai urban area, mostly the central city of Shanghai,with a radius of 15km in above 600 sq km, and joumeys inside could be finishedwithin 20 minutes. The second ring covers the suburban ring, mostly the metropolitanarea of Shanghai, with a radius of 50km in 6,000 sq km,, and journeys inside could befinished within 40 minutes. The third ring is the commuter ring with 150km in radius,40,000 sq km in coverage, about 60 millions in population, and 90 minutes journeyinside, which will be a comfortable, smooth, accessible and clean transport scope.Outside the third ring, the area of 300km away from the central city of Shanghai isdefined as the communication ring, and most of its residents can finish their journeyswithin 180 minutes in the long-run.By application of the demand forecasting techniques and approaches, thefollowing predictions are drawn: the total travel volume of SMACT will increase from140 million in 2003 to 180～190 million in around 2015, with the growth rate up 30%to 35%; the centripetal transport demand will increase from 1.05 million to 2.25～2.5million person-times /day, up 120%～140%; In the medium and long terms, theproportion of centripetal passenger commuter travels by rail transport will increasefrom 5% to 70%, and road transport will burden around 30%. Based on MACT rail transport planning techniques, the commuter rail networkwithin 90-minute is put forward to lead to the formation of SMACT. Based on MACTroad transport planning techniques, it is found that the traffic volume on externalhighways accounts for nearly 40% of the total road traffic volume at present, and 50%to 60% in the medium term and around 70% in the long term. Based on MACT hubsplanning techniques, to establish new comprehensive transport hubs for forming thetransport centers in cities and towns is advanced to trigger the regional landdevelopment. Based on rail transport switch hubs planning techniques, the interchangebetween commuter rails and metropolitan express rails is to be realized, and then theintegration of rail transport in SMACT can be accomplished. Furthermore, based onstudy on technological and economic assessments, 3 categories of assessment indexesincluding on performance, economical efficiency and harmony respectively areextracted.The main conclusions are as follows: the national strategy on promoting thedevelopment of Yangtze Delta Area and Shanghai calls for the construction of SMACT,which can fully draw the experience combined with Tokyo model dominated by theintegrated rail system and London model characterized by the integral comprehensivebalance. According to the demand forecast of SMACT, the centripetal travel volumewill increase by more than 120%, and the motorized commuter transport volume fromthe outer and suburban rings of SMACT to the first level ring will reach 1 to 1.2million person-times by 2015. To establish the integrated transportation in SMACT, theroad transport should create a commuter network of car priority roads in rationalstructure and function; rail transport should break through the current lagging railpattern to construct regional rail transport and ring commuter rail system to realize thecommuter objective of average 0.7 million passengers per day.By reviewing the comprehensive transportation system in the Yangtze DeltaEconomic Region, some problems are to be solved: a level gap exists in comparisonwith the international MACT in the degree that modern functions play their roles;administrative divisions are increasing the difficulty of cooperation and coordination;disintegrated transport situations restrict the balanced urbanization; the similarindustrial structure results in the malignant competition among cities, then the overalleconomic inefficiency and ecological environment deterioration; the transportconstruction speed is not compatible with the rapid growth of economy; the overallscale of transport infrastructure is too limited and line network grows too slow;roadside economic effect is unfavorable to the sustainable urban development; rail transport development substantially lags on the urbanization; passengers only havelimited options under a single intercity transport structure; interchange among differenttransport means lacks connectivity and harmony; comprehensive planning andconstruction has not integrated the transportation facilities among the region,development of transportation equipments and transportation operations andmanagement into an organic whole. In a word, there's a lot of works to do beforeSMACT can be really accomplished. At present, it is critical to establish a powerfulauthority that is responsible for the coordination of all governmental departments,which should take the responsibilities to make top design, formulate and implement theuniform transport policies within the region. In order to ensure the smoothimplementation of policies, first of all, it must be provided with decision-makingauthorization in transport investment and legislation; secondly, the investment isensured to be paid so as that operations can be launched to guarantee the action; thirdly,it must provide sufficient theoretical basis for setting up urban transport policies,particularly applying scientific achievements to solve controversies; finally, it shouldencourage the public participation and solicit opinions from all parties to enhance thesocial acceptance for urban transport policies. In conclusion, MACT model willinevitably become the most preferred methodology and the development orientation ofregional comprehensive transport system in China.