TRANSPORT NETWORK PLANNING: THEORETICAL NOTIONS

TRANSPORT NETWORK PLANNING: THEORETICAL NOTIONS

2.17

speed is found if the scale factor for road spacing sf equals 3: the speed of the higher level
network then is 1.67 times the speed of the lower level network. As sf increases the necessary
increase in travel speed converges to a factor 2. In both cases the maximum travel speed
ratio is 2. Apparently it is not necessary to have larger travel speed ratios to avoid short
cuts.
This analysis clearly shows that the existence of a scale factor 3 for the road spacing of
hierarchical road networks can be explained using a simple and plausible mechanism based
only on network characteristics. The corresponding scale factor for network speed is 1.67
and should not be larger than 2.

2.7.3 Special Issues

Steiner Nodes. When building a network, planners usually consider only the nodes that
have to be connected, i.e., cities or agglomerations. However, it might be an interesting
option to introduce extra nodes that make it possible to reduce network length and thus
investment costs. The impact of these so-called Steiner nodes is illustrated in Figure 2.12.
On the left-hand side we have four nodes that have to be connected. Using only these
four nodes a grid network might be a proper solution. Introducing an additional node in or
near the center, however, reduces the network length significantly (about minus 30 percent)
while travel times are reduced in some cases and increased in other. The net effect on
investment costs and travel times depend strongly on the demand pattern and the location
of the additional node. Finally, it is possible to introduce an additional node where a specific
road type ends, connected to the surrounding cities by links of lower-level networks.
Integrating Functions. The notion of hierarchical transport networks is primarily functional. In urbanized areas, however, there is a strong tendency to integrate functionally different network levels within a single physical network. In urban areas the distance between
access nodes for freeways, i.e., on- and off-ramps, is clearly shorter than in more rural areas.
Integrating network levels might be attractive since they reduce the necessary investments.
There is, however, an important pitfall for the quality of the transport network on the long
run (Bovy 2001). Medium- and short-distance trips that theoretically would be served by
lower-level networks experience a higher quality due to the higher accessibility and higher
speed of the higher-level network. This higher quality influences all kinds of traveler choices,
such as location, destination, mode, and route. The net result will be a relatively large
increase of these medium- and short-distance trips using the freeway network, in quantity as
well as in trip length. The resulting congestion reduces the transport quality for the longdistance trips for which the freeway network was originally designed. In some cases, the
impact on location choice of individuals and companies might even limit the possibilities to
increase the capacity in order to restore the required quality for long-distance trips. This
unwanted impact of integrating functions requires special attention when planning higherlevel networks in urbanized areas.

FIGURE 2.12 Application of Steiner nodes.

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