Multi-objective optimization for short distance trips in an urban area: choosing between motor vehicle or cycling mobility for a safe, smooth and less polluted route

Mobility in urban areas is highly complex because of the variety of possible facilities and routes, the multitude of origins and destinations, the increase of population density and traffic. Furthermore, people are willing to use more environmentally friendly transportation modes, such as cycling, to do short-distance trips in urban areas. This paper develops a multi-objective model for passengers in urban transportation network for short trips using bicycle or motor vehicle. The main objective of this paper is to improve the urban network mobility in order to decrease traffic congestion, road conflicts between road users and pollution. Furthermore, optimization objectives could comprehensively reflect expectations of passengers from the dimension of traffic and emissions as criteria and use a motor vehicle or a bicycle as an alternative. The methodology of this study was applied based on the real world case study in the city of Aveiro, Portugal. The present work uses a microscopic simulation platform of traffic (VISSIM), road safety (SSAM) and emissions (Vehicle Specific Power – VSP) to analyze traffic operations, road conflicts and to estimate carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions. Three-dimensional Pareto Fronts, which were expressed through traffic performance, road conflicts between motor vehicles and bicycles and emissions, were optimized using the fast Non-Dominated Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II)