The Barrier Effect of Urban Highway and the Impacts on Mobility and Transport Expenses

Abstract

Several cities have highways that cross neighborhoods, especially peripheral ones, causing difficulties in the displacement of affected populations and separating communities from areas where the greatest opportunities for employment and urban services are concentrated. This study aimed to identify the impacts of the barrier effect of a highway on the mobility and accessibility of the population in zones adjacent to a highway in a city in southern Brazil and to analyze the possible consequences on the family budget. The study was developed from the local household survey database, census and socioeconomic information, analysis of thematic maps and the use of linear regression to identify possible relationship between the neighboring and non-neighboring ZT to the stretch under study. It was found that there is evidence between the amount of opportunities for crossing the highway with aspects of family income and population density. There are indications that families that are in income classes of strata C or lower, according to the Brazil criterion, and reside in one of the ZT adjacent to the study area, are investing their few financial resources in the acquisition of motor vehicles, as a strategy for improve their mobility and accessibility conditions.

Keywords:
Community severance; Transport costs; Accessibility; GIS in Transports