Relationships Between Transportation Energy Consumption and Urban Structure: Results of Simulation Studies

If the urban transportation planning process is to deal with the problem of providing transportation in a future characterized by fuel shortages, a long-term perspective is needed. The study described documents the relationships between energy consumption in urban passenger travel and the spatial structure of cities, which is an important determinant of travel demand. Experiments were conducted with 37 hypothetical cities in which combinations of urban form, transport network, and resulting travel patterns were varied in order to identify structural characteristics contributing to increased energy consumption. Preliminary findings suggest that structural changes in transportation and land use patterns can produce significant reductions in energy consumption for urban passenger travel.