Prioritization of traffic congestion control strategies in metropolitan areas, case study: Mashhad

Increasing traffic congestion in urban thoroughfares will have detrimental negative effects such as increasing air pollution, increasing fuel consumption and increasing road user dissatisfaction. General strategies for controlling traffic congestion can be divided into three parts, which are: creating a restricted traffic area, turning traffic plan, and traffic congestion pricing. In the present study, the mentioned strategies were prioritized using the combined Delphi method and Analytic Network Process (ANP). The metropolis of Mashhad was also selected as a case study in this study. Based on the results, the traffic congestion pricing strategy with a score of 0.484 was recognized as the best traffic congestion control strategy in metropolitan areas. The strategies of the turning traffic plan and the creation of a restricted traffic area also gained the second and third priorities, respectively, with a slight difference. The indicators of the travel cost, using of public transportation and single-occupancy car traffic were also recognized as the most important indicators affecting the evaluation and prioritization of traffic congestion control strategies, respectively.