Multimodal Simulation-Based Planning for Pedestrians

In this contribution Strasbourg’s plan pieton will briefly be summarized and as a part of it the traffic situation around the central bridge Pont Kuss will be introduced. At Pont Kuss a number of safety and convenience issues in pedestrian traffic are reported. This is the motivation for a multi-modal microscopic simulation project which assesses measures to improve the situation for pedestrians. The assessment includes both: benefits for pedestrian and potential drawbacks for vehicular traffic. It will be shown in detail that clear benefits for pedestrians and for public transport are opposed by only small – if at all – drawbacks for vehicular traffic. It is concluded that multi-modal micro-simulation is a powerful tool to handle all traffic modes with equal care and equal rights in the planning process and that it is at the same time a powerful tool to produce material for communication with the public.