Executive summary: Traffic systems are inherently complex with multiple stakeholders - all with very specific demands.  This project takes a holistic view of the services provided by traffic systems and proposes new planning methods that take into consideration the services required by various stakeholders, their sustainability impacts and looks at the opportunity to use traffic planning in a cooperative way.
 
Background:

• Transportation has changed radically over the last hundred years.  It has gone from inherently human-and animal-powered to a highly fossil-fuel dependent system that requires more and more dedicated land and infrastructure.  This has had a major impact on city planning and the way that cities are built. 
• Materials used for transportation vehicles and infrastructure are often rare heavy metals, or require materials mined from the earth’s crust such as cement aggregates and fossil fuels which clearly violate all four sustainability principles (1, 2, 3 and 4).
• Transportation planning at the city level is a highly volatile and political process with various stakeholders trying to get their needs met. 

Purpose of Study: To create guidelines and a methodology for cooperative planning and the step-by-step creation of a sustainable traffic system.  This will allow researchers to understand the different traffic functions and their interaction with ecosystems as well as with other societal functions, and processes for cooperative planning and strategic step-by-step decisions leading to sustainable traffic- and transport solutions.

Implications for Managers:   Armed with a better understanding of current systems, the underlying needs that are being met by those systems and their interaction with ecosystems will give managers a better understanding of the real forces at play during the development and maintenance of traffic systems.  It will allow managers to make better decisions, be more inclusive in their planning and better meet the needs of their stakeholders while respecting natural systems.
 
Project Contact:
Professor Göran Cars    cars@infra.kth.se

Project Team:
Göran Cars, Professor
Göran Finnveden, Professor
Jerker Söderlind, Researcher
Krister Olsson, Researcher
Markus Robèrt, Researcher
Ahmad Kanyama, Researcher
Malin Hansen, PhD
Patrik Tornberg, PhD
Ebba Högström, PhD
Karin Bradley, PhD