Understanding mulTImodal accessibility parameters in diverse urban environments: A pilot study in darMstadt

Abstract

The research takes into consideration diverse perspectives and parameters for assessing accessibility in urban spaces within the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Area, with the initiation of pilot study in Darmstadt, being one of the major cities forming the urban agglomeration. Diverse tools including public transport accessibility level and Space Syntax which contribute to the factor of accessibility are studied and utilized in different urban spaces and further correlated. The study takes into consideration the city centre, the main transit station and a residential area, as three urban spaces within Darmstadt, to understand how the selected performance measures quantify leading to qualitative learning and inferences. The study aims to further evolve in future stages, in order to understand the diversity through the accessibility performance measures through different cities, based on commuter flows, within the urban agglomeration. Assessing accessible mobility in continuum within the urban agglomeration, through interdisciplinary means of research methodology, would assist in the vision (as per German legislation) of obtaining an accessible and integrated multimodal transport system by 2022.