Analyzing The Mobility Differences Between Neighborhoods in Addis Ababa
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Date
2025-02-01
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Addis Ababab University
Abstract
Addis Ababa is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa and administrative and financial capital of Ethiopia. However, in Ethiopian cities, the rate of urban physical growth has exceeded the rate of infrastructure and service provision in addition the scarce availability of data in Ethiopia remains a major impediment to precisely analyzing urban mobility challenges. This study is unique in that it employs third-party travel time data and very little land-use information. The smallest administrative unit i.e. Woreda was chosen as a traffic analysis zone; as well as travel time and distance between zones was gathered using Quantum Geographic Information System travel time plugin. The mobility and accessibility conditions in different neighborhoods of Addis Ababa were calculated using the neighborhood mobility index based on the free flow travel time and the peak hour travel time index. In this study it was found that all neighborhoods were above the acceptable threshold of Neighborhood Mobility Index 1.5, which means residents in Addis Ababa travel an additional of 50% of the free flow travel time, and among these, Woredas in the Central Business District counter more congestion relative to Woredas in the peripheries. Although, it reveals that they enjoy far more access; are able to reach more than 75% of the destinations within 30 minutes. while as we go further from downtown people have to travel further for jobs, shopping and social interactions. Furthermore, distance by physical routes divided by straight line distance, which unlike the above two analysis, showed no particular relationship between living in the city core or outside. Apparently, zones next to each other share similar values and to some extent it is displayed that zones in the periphery had less direct roads because of the lack of transport infrastructure in these regions. Conclusively, the pragmatic finding indicate that whereas people living far away have to travel longer to access activity’s, residents living in the center also have to counter more congestion. The study suggests that priority must be given to efficient land use, Infrastructure Improvements and public transportation.
Key words: Addis Ababa, Congestion, Mobility, Neighborhoods, QGIS