URBAN TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN OF LAUSANNE : ASSESSMENT 5 YEARS AFTER ITS APPROVAL

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1 URBAN TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN OF LAUSANNE : ASSESSMENT 5 YEARS AFTER ITS APPROVAL José-Angel GONZALEZ Head of the circulation department de la Ville de Lausanne Hôtel de Police - CP 2100 CH Lausanne Tel. : ## Fax : ## jose-angel.gonzalez@lausanne.ch Pascal CHRISTE Project Manager Transitec Ingénieurs-Conseils S.A. 17, Av. des Boveresses CH Lausanne Tel. : ## Fax : ## pascal.christe@transitec.net 1. CONTEXT AND BRIEF PRESENTATION OF THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN Within an agglomeration of approximately 250'000 inhabitants, the city of Lausanne accounts for about 130'000 inhabitants and 80'000 jobs. Its geographical characteristics (the city is located on the shore of Lake Geneva, with accessibility of only 180 ) and topographical characteristics (the city spreads over a slope going from an altitude of 370m at the lake to 700m at its northern urban limit) render the city's transportation problems even more delicate. For several years the city has aimed at solving these problems using a multimodal approach for its transportation policy. By means of the Urban Transportation Master Plan (UTMP) or, in French, "Plan directeur des déplacements (PDD)", elaborated in the framework of Lausanne's Masterplan (territorial planning) and adopted by the city authorities in September of 1995, the city equipped itself with the necessary means to assure the indispensable complementarity between all modes of transportation. This transportation master plan was preceded by a parking master plan, adopted by the local authorities in 1992, particularly voluntarist in terms of parking control on city territory, especially in the city-centre. This parking plan has been integrated into the Urban Transportation Master Plan. Ecomm 2004 page 1

2 The goals of the Urban Transportation Master Plan are the following: define an overview that aims at saving ground and energy, as well as limiting impacts on the environment; improve the transportation system by developing the complementarity between collective and individual transportation (CT and IT) and by favouring the transfer from one mode to another; encouraging the renouncement of the automobile for certain trips. The adopted transportation concept (cf. illustration 1) is based on three key elements: the maximal use of the agglomeration concentric road network, which consists of the motorway bypass, by increasing its capacity; the emphasizing of the radial network consisting of some main axes linking the motorway with the city-centre; a high-performance public transportation structure on dedicated lanes/tracks. Illustration 1 : The adopted transportation concept Ecomm 2004 page 2

3 2. THE MAIN STEPS OF THE UTMP'S IMPLEMENTATION The measures simultaneously affected the individual and collective transport systems: As of 1993, "pre-utmp" local measures, especially based on the parking master plan: - Division of Lausanne's territory in seven specific zones (called «zones macarons») allowing only residents to park for an extended amount of time on public ground, by buying a card (macaron) at a cost of CHF a year (about 240 euros); - Suppression of long duration parking in the city centre; - Introduction of differentiated parking fares depending on the zone location (city centre or inner suburbs); - Implementation of speed restricted areas "zones 30 km/h" in chosen neighbourhoods, which aim at improving residents' quality of life and at redistributing public space in favour of pedestrians and cyclists. As of Hierarchical organisation of the road network; - Public transportation is systematically taken into consideration and given priority to in the traffic lights regulation planning Extension of the Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher railway line (LEB, linking the "Gros-de- Vaud", region North of Lausanne, to the city) up to the city centre (Chauderon) Start of the redevelopment of the Place de la Gare, which aims at reducing the traffic in transit in favour of pedestrians Construction of a third lane on Lausanne's motorway bypass. End of Implementation of five Park-and-Rides at different entrances in the city, with a total capacity of 1'200 parking places, with a ticket system offering a daily or monthly pass, which include both parking and public transport riding fares. Ecomm 2004 page 3

4 Extension of the LEB-railway up to the metro/tsol interface at the Place du Flon. 3. EVALUATION METHOLOGY AND FIRST RESULTS The assessment of Lausanne's UTMP, 5 years after the beginning of its implementation, was based on a quantitative analysis of the measured effects. The chosen methodology allowed for the objective evaluation of the level of satisfaction reached for the targeted goals of the UTMP. The evaluation is based on the measured effects of indicators relative to the goals of the UTMP, as shown in the following illustration. Illustration 2 : Evaluation methodology for the assessment of the UTMP 4. RESULTS MEASURED 5 YEARS AFTER THE APPROVAL OF LAUSANNE'S UTMP Some chosen extracts of various quantitative results measured five years after the beginning of the implementation of the UTMP are presented here under: city traffic: globally, the volume of traffic within the city centre remained stable. The increase in mobility (mainly in terms of use of personal vehicles) has been taken over by the motorway bypass. The role of the inner bypass around the city centre ("Petite ceinture") was reinforced resulting in traffic reduction on axes crossing the centre; Ecomm 2004 page 4

5 hierarchy of the road network: globally, the amount of driven kilometres in the entire city network has increased of approximately 6 %. This increase is essentially concentrated on the main roads (superior network). On moderated axes and on the accessibility network a significant traffic reduction of about 5 % was observed; speed restricted areas "zones 30 km/h": a clear reduction of traffic loads was measured in the majority of the speed restricted areas "zones 30 km/h", by an average of about 16% for all of these areas. There was also a reduction in car speed in all of these areas, the average reduction varying between 10 and 30% in each "zone 30 km/h". collective transportation and modal share: Between 1995 and 2000, almost all of the lines forming the public transportation network of the city of Lausanne (TL) underwent a demand increase, especially along the main axes accessing the city centre. The modal share corresponding to collective transportation has also significantly increased on all rings and screens. The one problem is that the average commercial speeds are subject to a constant degradation in the centre and stagnate in all of the city. Illustration 3 : Evolution of the modal share CT/CT+IT from 1985 to 2000 parking: all of the recommended management measures concerning public parking in the city centre and in its periphery has been implemented: - transformation of 5'500 parking places from long duration to short and medium duration parking; Ecomm 2004 page 5

6 - implementation of 10 «zones macarons» encompassing 7'700 parking places in total favouring residents; - implementation of 5 Park-and-Rides at different entrances in the city, with a total capacity of 1'200 parking places. Most of the measured effects coincide with the goals of the UTMP: - reduction of daily use of public parking places within the «zones macarons» (from -5 % to -35 %), which results in an accessibility augmentation for short duration users; - progressive increase of the Park-an-Rides' average occupancy: 45 % in 1999, 55 % in 2000, over 60 % in ASSESSMENT OF THE UTMP AND PERSPECTIVES 5.1 Analysis of the satisfaction of the goals of the UTMP Accessibility objectives: Amongst the objectives linked with the accessibility to the city, and more specifically to the centre, approximately half of the goals can be considered as achieved, the remainder at least partially. The traffic loads on the axes crossing the city centre have since 1995 stagnated, although they could possibly be decreased in the future. Public space development, security and environment objectives: Except for those on the environment, the observed effects in these fields coincide with the goals of the UTMP. The traffic managed to be contained, particularly in the city centre, but given the urban environment (narrow streets, hemmed in by steep hills) and the dense traffic that existed to begin with, the immission levels (concerning both noise and pollution) are still higher than the limits set by law. Concerning the displacement conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the development of public space, the undertaken efforts must continue to be pursued, despite the fact that the targeted goals have been achieved. Ecomm 2004 page 6

7 5.2 Highlighting of the state of implementation of the UTMP and coherence of the undertaken actions State of implementation of the UTMP Globally, it appears that the great majority of the measures defined in the UTMP in 1995 have been since or should be sooner or later carried out. Analysis of the coherence of the undertaken actions with the recommendations The analysis of the main necessary projects on which depended the implementation of other actions allows for the following statements: The project management was led with coherence, according to the programme defined in 1995; The majority of the founding projects were carried out, allowing for the implementation of other measures that were depending on them; 1 founding project is presently on hold: the Vennes - St. Martin liasion. The suspension of this project leads to important constraints for the planed redevelopment of one of Lausanne's place (Place de la Sallaz). 5.3 New avenues to be considered Individual transportation Three main subjects are worth considering for the following years: The possibility to insert a new liaison from and to the city centre (Vennes St Martin liaison), taking advantage of the construction of a new waste incineration plan; Traffic in the city centre: the main axes continue to bear an important transit traffic trough the city centre. Further reflection on the organisation of the circulation within the inner bypass ("Petite ceinture") would greatly be merited; Control of the traffic accessing the city centre: In order to maintain over the next years the stability of the traffic crossing the city centre ring, the extension of the access control system around and within the centre must to be pursued. Ecomm 2004 page 7

8 Collective transportation An important topic of concern in terms of collective transportation is the stagnation or even the reduction of commercial speeds of buses in the city network, particularly in the centre. To rectify this situation, it is important to react by: analysing more in depth its causes; considering to review the programming of the traffic lights regulation (soft) in the intersections, which have been recently equipped with new material (hard). Parking Concerning parking policy, the avenues to be explored in the upcoming years should be geared towards the following aspects: Operating of the parking places in the city centre (stricter introduction of very short duration (maximum one hour) in open air public parking places, so that the covered parking lots can be used for short and medium duration); Operating of the parking places in the «zones macarons» (modification of the authorised parking duration to for example 2 hours, allowing for more efficient use of the parking places); New "zones macarons"; Marking out of the city centre parking lots; New Park-and-Rides. Human powered mobility Two fields will merit increased attention in the next years: Bicycle itineraries (improvement of the network's continuity and development of bicycle parking lots close to the main public transportation sites); Displacements of persons with reduced mobility: The displacements of these persons in urban centres and their access to the public transportation system are an increasing and notable matter that should be taken into consideration in the city of Lausanne. Ecomm 2004 page 8

9 6. CONCLUSIONS The above mentioned avenues to be considered are not exhaustive. Their aim is to point out the main questions that arose along this assessement study concerning the implementation of the UTMP between 1995 and They should help guide politicians, in the framework of the elaboration of a transport policy program for the years to come, in order to guarantee the continuity of the important efforts put in by the city in the past years. This is even more the case given the promising results that can be drawn from the assessement of the 1995 Urban Transportation Master Plan of Lausanne. José-Angel Gonzalez Head of the circulation department City of Lausanne Pascal Christe Project Manager Transitec Ingénieurs-Conseils S.A. Ecomm 2004 page 9