Evaluation of the Accessibility to Urban Mobility Services with High Spatial Resolution—Case Study: Valencia (Spain)

This paper aims to evaluate the accessibility to urban mobility services with high spatial resolution. The methodology identifies the percentage of the population living within walking distance of the different public transport and shared mobility systems. The motivation for this study stems from the importance of understanding and improving sustainable urban mobility, as well as the need to evaluate the effectiveness of transportation infrastructure. The study involved creating buffers from each station following the road network according to urban design to identify areas within a 5-min walk, then calculating the affected population by age range within these zones to ensure equity. This method determined the percentage of the population with access to available mobility services: bike renting, urban bus, intercity bus, metro, taxi, tram and train. The application of the methodology to the Valencia case study underscores the overall strong accessibility of mobility services. The main results indicate access to mobility services for 99.98% of the total population of the city. The accessibility percentages for specific mobility services vary, with urban bus and bike renting showing high accessibility, while train and tram services exhibit lower accessibility rates. Additionally, the study extends its assessment to the peri-urban area, revealing a global access percentage of 46.33%. In conclusion, this study allows us to identify areas with lower accessibility and help to improve the sustainability of urban mobility. These findings can aid urban planners and policymakers by providing valuable insights into the city’s mobility network’s strengths and areas for improvement.