The logistics of a city's human resources: A simulation model of Bergen's transportation system for strategic management of peak hour congestion

Abstract

Traffic congestion is a problem of increasing magnitude in Bergen that inflicts costs on the commuters and social costs on the whole city of Bergen. Estimations of the peak hour traffic indicates that traffic on many roads have surpassed the roads' capacities during the time period 2000 to 2010. The objective of the thesis was to investigate how much of the increase is caused by commuters' choice of transportation mode and changes in the supply of transportation services, by developing a transportation model using a System Dynamics approach. The main insight from the model is that the increase in traffic is due to increased car ownership and total number of commuter's effect on the road traffic. Various policies were tested in the model. The tests showed that the park-and-ride policy is not very effective with the exception of Bergen South. This is because the-park-and-ride policy is only effective when combined with an already attractive public transportation service. Another finding is that the reduction in car users' commuting time caused by expanding the tram network to Bergen North and West goes a long way in covering the initial investment costs.