IaaC blog

Our group studied the human transportation system in Barcelona, in comparison to London. We tried to spot the main nodes on each city , and find the connection between the different means of transportation which connect these nodes.

We also worked on a simulation of the transport system and in that way we also represented our final proposal about how the tranport system should look like.

These are the diagrams and maps that I was responsible for producing for the Human Transport Systems research. In the first sheet there is an analysis on how the transportation system works for Spain and then how this network leads to a city node –Barcelona-.

You can download the full PDF version from here barcelona_transport.pdf

 
In this city in particular, the human transport systems create a complex network that relates the different parts between each other to serve the whole city and the metropolitan area.
It is very clear how the transportation system develops itself from the main downtown to the surrounding areas, generating a less dense distribution as the city fades towards its borders, nevertheless some of the main nodes are very close to each other, producing waste of some systems as buses or bicycles which could be taken more into advantage if the distribution was done in matter of distances and density.
- The metro stations should create the main nodes and the base network, covering the longest distances and keeping an average distance between stations.
- The buses could create routes in between metro stations as well as bicycles keeping a close relationship between each other and creating communicating and exchange nodes.
- The comparison with London systems demonstrates that even though Barcelona covers the main city and several adjacent municipalities, the bus system is short for the size of the city and the number of habitants 75km, compared to the London’s network which covers 240km.
- Barcelona turned to be a city in which the public transportation is more used than London, but bicycles are a more popular system in London.
- The low fares in Barcelona compared to the ones in London have turned to be motive to use more public transport.
- The lack of interconnection between the different modes of public transport, long walks between them and differences in the timetables make an inefficient system compared to London.
- The time tables for both cities create a pattern that can be followed to develop a network with equal distances between stops and interconnection between different systems.
- La Rochelle is a city that has been developing for the past years a sustainable transport system, based on electric cars of public use, boats, trams and bicycles. Compared to Barcelona these systems transport more people in proportion with its population and area, creating a sustainable network. Meanwhile Venice has a vaporetto system which works in a similar way as the main bus system in Barcelona.

You can find the Urban Habitat Manifesto here  080115_urban-habitat_hh.pdf