Final Report, December 2012 The Project for Tirana Thematic Urban Planning 4.8 Public Transport Development Plan The growth of urbanization tends to change urban lifestyles and people’s values for goods and services. In this context, public transport services should satisfy various types of demands in the city. For planning the public transport development in this Study, there are two major strategic projects that have been given by the MOT: Development of an intermodal transportation terminal along with relocation of Tirana railway station, and Development of two tramlines: east-west (Kinostudio – Kombinat) and north-south (Intermodal Transportation Terminal – Student City). The public transport development is proposed to support the above core projects and to further expand the public transport network from aspects of tramlines development, bus transportation development, intermodal development, and commuter rail development. It is listed in Table 4.8.1 and presented in Figure 4.8.1. Furthermore, tramlines and bus transportation development projects were included in the future transit network, and the future demand was forecast as presented in Figure 4.8.2. Table 4.8.1 List of Public Transport Development Projects RUT-3-1 Tramlines Development RUT-3-1-1 East-West (Kinostudio-Kombinat) Tramline Development RUT-3-1-2 North-South (Student City -Intermodal Terminal) Tramline Dev elopment RUT-3-1-3 North-South (Paskuqan) Tramline Development RUT-3-1-4 Unaza (Circular) Tramline Development RUT-3-2 Bus Transportation Development RUT-3-2-1 Restructruring City/Commune Bus Lines RUT-3-2-2 Transit Mall Dev elopment in the Center RUT-3-2-3 Bus Location Sy stem Dev elopment RUT-3-3 Intermodal Transportation Terminal Development RUT-3-3-1 Relocation of Tirana Railway Station RUT-3-3-2 IntercityBus Terminal Development RUT-3-4 Commuter Rail Development RUT-3-4-1 Airport Rail Link Development RUT-3-4-2 Tirana-Durres Commuter Railway Development Source: JICA Study Team 4 - 85 Final Report, December 2012 The Project for Tirana Thematic Urban Planning The ProjectforTirana ThematicUrbanPlanning Final Report, December2012 4 -86 Source: JICA Study Team Figure 4.8.1 Public Transport Development Projects in Tirana 4 - 86 Final Report, December 2012 The Project for Tirana Thematic Urban Planning Source: JICA Study Team Figure 4.8.2 Passenger Demand Forecast of the Proposed Future Transit Network (2027) 4.8.1 Tramlines Development The MOT is planning to develop the above-mentioned tramlines as the core of the public transport network. High service frequency, punctuality, speed, comfort, affordability, consistent fare system, and intermodality of the tramlines are essential elements that attract not only the commuters who take the bus but also those who use private modes of transportation. Including the two aforementioned lines, the following four tramlines have been listed for public transport development to enhance the network utility: North-South Tramline (Intermodal Transportation Terminal – Student City): It is to support the new business and commercial activities along the north-south boulevard (Zogu I Boulevard) as well as to transport passengers between the planned Intermodal Transportation Terminal and the city center. This tramline should be connected at the center of Tirana (Skanderbeg Square) to the east-west tramline by taking over the existing passengers of the whole Uzina Dinamo e Re line. East-West Tramline (Kinostudio – Kombinat): It is to replace the existing line-haul bus line, namely Kinostudio – Kombinat line, which constitutes the axis that links the 4 - 87 Final Report, December 2012 The Project for Tirana Thematic Urban Planning northeastern and southwestern areas of the city through the center with the second largest number of passengers (approx. 43,000 passengers/day). Extension of North-South Tramline (Paskuqan direction): Extension of the above north- south tramline matches with the new road development corridor with large-scale residential, industrial, commercial, and recreational developments planned by the MOT. ROW of this line has been reserved in the staged north-south boulevard development though the details are not clear yet. The passenger demand volume on this line may be uncertain while it has the greatest potential to serve as the core of the transit-oriented development (TOD), which will allow high floor area ratios around the tram stations to induce intensive land use and development. Circular Tramline (Unaza): It is to replace the existing circular bus line, namely Unaza line, which is currently carrying the largest number of passengers (approx. 54,000 passengers/ day). Hence, a large passenger demand can be expected, bringing about an integrated effect with other north-south and east-west tramlines and resulting in formulation of a more comprehensive network. New, comfortable, safe, and air-conditioned trams should be operated at least at the same intervals as the currently operated bus lines, namely, 4-7 minutes to avoid excessive, or long, waiting periods. Future average and maximum sectional passenger volume in one morning peak hour on each of the four tramlines proposed above is forecast in Table 4.8.2. Three tramlines, namely, North-South (Intermodal Transportation Terminal – Student City), East-West (Kinostudio – Kombinat), and Circular (Unaza) Tramlines are expected to have over 10,000 passengers per hour which is generally considered as enough number of passengers for a tram or LRT project to become viable. On the other hand, extension of North-South Tramline (Paskuqan direction) is expected to have a small number of passengers. Hence, regular bus lines will do to serve the Paskuqan extension unless significant additional large-scale developments are realized along this corridor. Table 4.8.2 Sectional Passenger Volume Forecast on Proposed Four Tramlines (2027) [unit: persons/hour] Tramlines Average Maximum East-West (Kinostudio-Kombinat) 16,100 25,900 North-South (Student City-Intermodal Terminal) 15,000 24,700 North-South (Paskuqan Extension only) 3,700 6,200 Unaza (Circular) 10,700 14,400 Source: JICA Study Team With regard to the development of Ring Road 4, the MOT was also interested in the future passenger demand on another tramline on Ring Road 4, if it is difficult to develop as planned by the MOT. Since Ring Road 4 will be relatively narrow compared to the other ring roads, the MOT is considering development of a tramline-only road in the north and west sections of Ring Road 4 that is closed to car traffic. Thus, future average and maximum sectional passenger volumes in one morning peak hour on each of the five tramlines in the case with a tramline on Ring Road 4 are forecast in Table 4.8.3. The average number of passengers forecast on Ring Road 4 is below 5,000 passengers per hour, and even the maximum number of passengers 4 - 88 Final Report, December 2012 The Project for Tirana Thematic Urban Planning (projected in the section between Dritan Hoxha road and Don Bosko road) is below 10,000 passengers per hour, which is a generally accepted threshold to determine whether to develop bus transport or larger-scale rail-based transport. Hence, the tramline on Ring Road 4 may not be supported from a passenger demand point of view. Tramline on Ring Road 4 Source: JICA Study Team Figure 4.8.3 Future Transit Network with a Tramline on Ring Road 4 (2027) Table 4.8.3 Sectional Tram Passenger Volume Forecast with a Tramline on Ring Road 4 (2027) [unit: persons/hour] Tramlines Average Maximum East-West (Kinostudio-Kombinat) 15,900 26,600 North-South (Student City-Intermodal Terminal) 15,100 24,400 North-South (Paskuqan Extension only) 3,700 6,200 Unaza (Circular) 10,200 13,200 Tramline on Ring Road 4 4,600 9,200 Source: JICA Study Team In any case, it should be noted that the future passenger demand will also vary depending on the 4 - 89 Final Report, December 2012 The Project for Tirana Thematic Urban Planning attractiveness and convenience of the new tramline system including its accessibility and intermodality with other transportation modes. Above all, attention should be paid to intermodal transfer functions between different transport modes, that is, between connecting (feeder) bus lines and tramlines, and between private transport modes and tramlines (i.e., Park & Ride system). For this, it is highly necessary to improve the transfer convenience levels of transport facilities by providing pedestrian walks, car and bicycle parking facilities, and station squares. Thus, the tramline terminal stations should serve as gateway stations to the CBD, and such intermodal developments should also be included in the cost for those tramline development projects to increase the ridership. 4.8.2 Bus Transportation Development While the number of private vehicles has been rapidly increasing in Tirana, the improvement of the current level of bus services is urgently needed. As mentioned earlier, the current on-street parking should be removed and the partial dedicated bus lanes should be extended more continuously on the urban primary roads to form a continuous, smooth network for buses, thereby serving as a BRT. By keeping stable bus operating speeds from heavy traffic, time schedule can also be foreseen, consequently reducing the waiting time and attracting more passengers. It should also be noted that the dedicated bus line network will be a prototype of rail-based mass transit such as tramlines by converting the dedicated bus lanes to rail tracks when the demand grows in a longer term. (1) Bus Route Restructuring The aforementioned tramline system should be developed in the form of network in order that people can reach destinations within the system. This means that a single route at high service level may not attract people to use public transport. A public transport network should consist of several trunk lines with supporting feeder services and should cover the whole Tirana metropolitan area as much as possible.