Decision making processes and their interaction with transport energy consumption: A comparison between Europe and South-East-Asia

Panel: Panel 8: Transport and mobility

Authors:
Paul Pfaffenbichler, Vienna University of Technology – Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Austria
Günter Emberger, Vienna University of Technology – Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Austria
Sittha Jaensirisak, Civil Engineering Department, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand
Paul Timms, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

Abstract

The worldwide ongoing trend of urbanisation enables the economic growth necessary for globalisation. On the other hand densification in population combined with increasing economic activities and motorisation causes significant negative impacts in terms of non-renewable energy consumption as well as quality of life for the metropolitan population. In this area of conflict, planning of transport systems is of increased importance, particularly in the context of the overall development of urban regions. It is important to understand how decision-making processes work and to design guidelines for helping such processes. In the recently finished EU-funded project PROSPECTS the decision making processes of European urban regions were analysed and an “ideal” decision making process was identified. A “Decision Makers Guidebook” was the major project result. In a further EU-funded project, SPARKLE, the transferability of this “ideal” process to South-East-Asia was put under scrutiny, through seminars and workshops in Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos. The land use and transport interaction model MARS was used in these seminars to simulate the effects of decision making on transport energy consumption. In this paper we firstly introduce the “ideal” decision making process published in the Decision Makers Guidebook. In a second step we report on what we have learned from participants attending the workshops in South-East Asia and summarise the experiences on transferability of the “ideal” process, highlighting differences between Europe and South-East Asia. Thirdly we analyse the interaction between decision making processes and transport energy consumption. This section includes a brief case study of Hanoi employing a System Dynamics model. Finally we summarise our findings and draw some conclusions.