In: Journal of Transport and Land Use, 1 (2) 5-22. PDF The paper reflects about the effects of improved accessibility and its correlated lower generalized cost of contact at a number of different spatial and temporal scales based on a conceptual model and empirical data analysis.
Knowledge of the transportation demand variation over the course of the day is an essential prerequisite for the planning and operation of traffic systems as well as the evaluation of infrastructural and political traffic measures. Strategies for managing traffic demand and influencing the times of the demand distribution More
Within the fifth Framework Programme, the European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, has started a project on long-distance passenger mobility in co-operation with an international consortium of firms and research organisations. Passenger transport statistics at an European level are needed to support the Common Transport Policy – More
The central theme of this investigation is the change in structure of professional commuter patterns of travel, and their behaviour as a function of the dynamic of spatial accessibility and population dispersion since 1970. This project defends 3 hypotheses: a) that suburban spaces have uncoupled themselves from their More
«Time is money» is a common refrain today, but it raises some questions: What is time? How much money? Self-reflection tells us that we value time in different ways: Spending time playing with a child is quite different from finishing some overdue work. Driving through the Engadine in More
Travel demand models have massively increased their data demand in scope and scale, and, as a consequence, their complexity has increased substantially. At this point, it is tempting to contradict this trend and explore the formulation of an alternative travel demand model that requires only aggregate and anonymous More
A Life-course Approach to Travel Behaviour and Residential Choice (D-A-CH) In recent years, the mobility biography approach has been developed to study stability and changes in travel behaviour of individuals over their life course. Such changes are expected to become increasingly complex in the future due to societal More
The goal of this project is to explore the future of mobility through the role of the car. The main originality of this research is to raise the following problem: «What, if the world were a post-car world?». The basic idea is to define a hypothetical situation where More
An important aspect of the creation of models for traffic planning is the question of the need for movement in the model. If one uses a microscopic model in which individual persons will be represented through agents, it will allow the question to be modelled intuitively through the More
Good railway systems distinguish themselves through high reliability and availability. Nevertheless, operational disruptions through internal or external influences cannot always be avoided. The goal set for this postdoctoral work is to raise the operational manageability of operational disruptions through better predictions of the duration of the disruption: Is More
The goal of part of this dissertation is to prove that it is methodologically possible to conduct a consistent capacity evaluation and efficiency estimation for expansion measures even in early project stages. Special attention is focused on the area of conflict between the requirements of the network users More
High quality public transport systems are characterized not only by their large capacity and high operational speeds, they must also provide a reliable service. This is important because reliability has an effect in both the users and the service providers. An ongoing project uses new data to look More
Background Numerous disruption incidents can affect the operation of public transportation systems so much that (large) parts of the network can no longer be served. In addition to natural events, technical or social hazards can also threaten the stability of public transportation networks. The high network load as More
In order to survive intermodal competition, freight trains are forced to offer their clients a high level of flexibility. However, fulfilling this promise for flexibility is associated with noteworthy financial risks due to their high fixed cost rates. Control of the oscillating level of demand engendered through this More
In times when most European agglomerations are affected by congestion, local public transport is one of the most important elements to promote the development of conurbations. Agglomerations extending over international boundaries are a special challenge for local public transport; the cross-border connections are generally less developed than the More
Along with increasing globalisation, the strategic importance of transport infrastructures for society and the economy are also growing. Demands related to capacity and reliability in rail traffic are increasing. At the same time, however, infrastructure expansion puts pressure on economic and ecological limits, which then forces an even More
Cities across the world are starting to recover space, previously devoted to cars, for other uses. The main purpose of this project was to better understand the removal of space in urban settings and to provide some analytical results showing that it is possible to remove streets from More
The goal of this project was to evaluate the data requirements for a possible implementation of a macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) control scheme in an urban area. Particularly, we have studied the accuracy of MFDs created using only a percentage of the links (i.e., streets). This is especially More
Current VSS standards for the design and evaluation of uncontrolled intersections only take into account conflicts between private vehicles. Unfortunately, this limits the applicability of the standards in most Swiss urban networks, as they cannot be used to model other modes such as public transport, pedestrians, or bicycles. More
The MULTITUDE is a joint research project funded by the European Union COST programme (COST Action TU0903). The main objective was to develop, implement and promote the use of methods and procedures for supporting the use of traffic simulation models, especially regarding model calibration and validation, to ensure More
In patrol surveys, patrolling observers check the parking area every δ minutes (i.e., at fixed time intervals) and record the plate number of the car occupying each stall. To find the average parking duration, an estimated value is obtained by averaging the parking duration of each car observed. More
The City of Zürich acquired «Verkehr In Städten – SIMulationsmodell» (VISSIM), a microscopic multi-modal traffic flow simulation software, to effectively model traffic within the city. VISSIM is a widely used simulation software with many applications and high potential. However, like other commercial microscopic traffic simulation software, VISSIM has a More
Settlement areas are expanding worldwide and the trend towards greater urbanisation remains unabated. At the same time, the magnitude of natural hazards is increasing. These global developments require ever greater efforts in the construction of new infrastructures and the maintenance of existing ones, as well as a more economical use of the natural and largely limited resources of soil, water and air. Successfully meeting these challenges requires sound expertise and the ability to use effective methods and instruments. The profession is looking for experts who can undertake engineering design tasks targeting the sustainable development of our habitat.
The Master’s programme in Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems offers a broad, university education and a great deal of practical relevance for aspiring professionals who want to take on complex global and local tasks in spatial and infrastructure development. The programme enables students with different professional backgrounds to develop a common language and a common understanding of methodology to develop integrated solutions for sustainable spatial and infrastructure development.
The Master’s degree programme comprises compulsory courses, specialist courses and elective courses. In addition, there is a mandatory semester paper in the form of interdisciplinary group project work. On conclusion of the course, students write a Master’s thesis in their final semester which leads to the degree.
With a Master’s degree in Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems, career prospects are excellent. Challenging and diversified employment opportunities beckon – for example in consultancy offices, with transport operators, infrastructure providers, construction and real estate companies, banking and insurance companies, as well as with municipal authorities, local, cantonal or federal government. Careers in research and development are equally attractive, either at a university or a research institution.
Webpage Master’s degree studies
In October 2010, Monica Menendez was appointed Director of the Traffic Engineering Research Group of the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems at ETH Zurich. Prior to that, she was a Management Consultant at Bain & Company’s San Francisco office. She joined Bain after receiving a MSc and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. Her research interests include traffic flow theory and operations, sustainable transportation, and logistics.