Multi-modal Transportation System Using Multi-functional Road Interchanges

Growing world population and increasing urbanization continues to stress cities and negatively impact people mobility. Morning and evening peaks of traffic congestion threaten to merge into a continuous never-ending congestion. Two main causes create this problem: an over-concentration of working places in city centers and a dis-proportionately large share of private cars in the traffic. Ownership and use of private vehicles are naturally encouraged by a typical layout of modern cities with living areas in suburbs which are dissolving passenger flows and making public transport ineffective there. A classical Park & Ride system is designed to attract and eliminate private cars coming from suburbs and transfer passengers to public transport for further travel towards the city center. However, most of these systems have limitations - if the parking space is large enough it requires a lot of real estate and it is difficult to access and exit, and if it is small enough to be convenient it does not have a sufficient effect. We present several innovative multifunctional road junctions which can act both as intersections of continuous flow and also utilize their occupied plot of land at the same time therefore becoming natural Park & Ride systems. All presented junctions have only two levels but traffic flows do not intersect. Their capacity is not limited by design. They enable non-interrupted flows in all directions as well as a possibility to make a U-turn. Most importantly, the junctions enable an easy access to a free area inside them. Thus the area can be utilized either for parking spaces, logistics or business centers, and public transport hubs with easy transfer capabilities between different modes of transport. Depending on the design one such junction can easily accommodate 20 thousand vehicles and create as many new working places. Placing the junctions on major intersections would both decentralize a city and create an effective infrastructure for multi-modal travel. Additionally, ITS can be easily employed to manage traffic flows and concentrate passengers creating a smart solution for city mobility. The multi-modal transportation system does not require any major changes of the road infrastructure inside a city and it is therefore a good choice both for a new or an old growing city.