Evaluating the Impact of Maintenance Actions on Diverse Users in Shared Automobile, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Facilities

The maintenance of roadways, bikeways, and sidewalks affects the users of not only the mode in which the maintenance action is taken, but also the users of other co-located modes. When such actions are taken simultaneously, either because of stovepiping in maintenance planning across modes or from larger projects that bundle these activities to improve efficiencies and reduce monetary costs, the activities can have very significant impacts on system users. Their impacts can be greater for the users of one mode over another and for some user groups over others. To capture the perspectives of diverse users and multi-modal traffic on shared facilities, a multi-modal network modeling methodology considering several additional important attributes (e.g., safety, slope, and costs at intersections) is proposed. An embedded traffic assignment model in mixed traffic of different modes is solved through a fast bush-based traffic assignment algorithm. Measurements of mobility, accessibility, safety, and proportional fairness are considered in impact evaluation. The developed method and metrics are applied to a case study replicating a portion of the business district adjacent to the University of Delaware campus. Outcomes from application of these tools show the existence of inequities across users.