The societal costs and benefits of commuter bicycling: simulating the effects of specific policies using system dynamics modeling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Shifting to active modes of transport in the trip to work can achieve substantial co-benefits for health, social equity, and climate change mitigation. Previous integrated modeling of transport scenarios has assumed active transport mode share and has been unable to incorporate acknowledged system feedbacks.

Objectives

We compared the effects of policies to increase bicycle commuting in a car-dominated city and explored the role of participatory modeling to support transport planning in the face of complexity.

Methods

We used system dynamics modeling (SDM) to compare realistic policies, incorporating feedback effects, nonlinear relationships, and time delays between variables. We developed a system dynamics model of commuter bicycling through interviews and

SUBMITTER: Macmillan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3984216 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature