Analysis of TNC passenger and driver responses to curb-space allocation in urban land use contexts

Abstract

In response to the growing recognition of impacts from TNC vehicles, some major American municipalities are considering or have implemented regulatory practices intended to promote public curb space allocation in line with long-term planning goals of safety and environmental sustainability. Some of the proposed regulatory policies center the reallocation of a significant amount of public right-of-way for the use and benefit of private TNC vehicle operations. This thesis project proposes both: a conceptual computer model, built using the agent-based program NetLogo, of the trade-offs which reallocation of curb space can affect; and a matrix, informed by observation of trade-offs in the model, with which decision-makers can evaluate options for policy intervention in a variety of urban land use contexts. The study applies the model and matrix to two interventions proposed by the transportation consultancy Fehr & Peers.