Sustainable urban mobility: comparison of twouniversity campuses using multi-criteria analysis

Abstract

Urban mobility is currently being challenged tobecome more sustainable. In this sense, decision-making seeks tochoose the best alternatives based on evidence. To this end, thedevelopment of indicators and indices serves as a tool for evaluatingthe initial situation and the impact of new projects. The present studyfocuses on developing a sustainable mobility index for the campusesof the Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS) in Bahía Blanca,Argentina, based on the analysis of indicators related to non-motorized means of transport, electric micro-vehicles and use ofpublic transport. After collecting data and performing thecalculations, it was determined that the Alem campus obtained avalue of 0.724 for the index, while Palihue reached 0.458, indicatingthat Alem has a 58% higher level of sustainable mobility. This is dueto a greater number of bicycles and bus lines in the Alem campusarea. While it is suggested to improve pedestrian infrastructure andincrease bus lines in Palihue, a higher use of electric micro-vehicleswas observed in this campus. The analysis carried out in this workseeks to collaborate in the decision-making process of sustainablemobility policies to be applied in both campuses, which can have apositive impact at the city level, considering that universityenvironments are fundamental to generate sustainable habits in thecommunity.