Infrastruktur och människors transportval : Omvandling av tidigare E4 genom Umeå från genomfartsled till stadsgata

Sammanfattning: After the breakthrough of the personal car in the early 20th century many cities were planned with the idea that every person should use their own car for transportation within the city. Highways were built, splitting neighborhoods straight through. However, car is a very space inefficient mode of transportation, and the roads and parking lots make other modes of transportation unpleasant. Therefore, it is a bad mode of transportation in cities, where space is valuable and an efficient land use prominent to create a safe, well-functioning and living city. This essay investigate what factors are most important when redesigning roads to encourage a usage of more sustainable modes of transportations, such as biking, walking and public transportation. By collecting previous studies, six themes (travel time, barrier, attractiveness, safety, security, acceptance) were chosen to be used in a thematic analysis of a traffic investigation by the consultant firm Trivector ordered by the council of Umeå. The traffic investigation analyzes how to rebuild a previous thoroughfare avenue through the city center to a more livable place. The purpose is to prioritize sustainable mode of transportation and minimize the number of cars using the road (but still allowing them to). The thematic analysis concluded that the traffic investigation was mostly suggesting measures that focused on changing the travel time between the means of transportation (in favor of biking and public transportation). It also suggested a lot of measures to increase the attractiveness of the roads for people walking. Traffic security was treated mostly by mentioning its importance. Safety concerns was regarded as something that was improved by the attractiveness of the area, since a more crowded area makes the place feel safer. Acceptance was not mentioned at all in the investigation.