CREATING, TESTING AND APPLYING A GIS ROAD TRAVEL COST MODEL FOR ROMANIA

Mihai BULAI, Adiran URSU

ABSTRACT: Simulating road network functionalities has a critical importance nowadays: it gives the opportunity to understand network architecture and places’ accessibility in a fast and effective manner. Our method integrates different factors of travel impedance – such as legal speed limitations, morphology, quality and hierarchy of network infrastructure. The tests show similar features to those of the professional route planner platforms, which enable us to use this model in further applications and to propose it as a method for other networks. Our application in the field of tourism accessibility has shown interesting results. Average speed of reaching business tourism destinations plays a certain role in destination development, though it is still hard to be estimated. Certainly, applying the model to more contrasting road networks would show critical spatial differentiations.

Keywords: Road network functionalities, factors of travel impedance, route planner.

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