Efficiency and equity of orbital motorways in Madrid

Abstract

Orbital motorways are major structuring elements in the metropolitan areas of developed countries. They can be considered as key components within the transport network of large urban agglomerations, funneling a great amount of intra- and inter-metropolitan traffic. This paper explores the equity and efficiency effects of orbital motorways on accessibility, using the beltways of Madrid as a case study. It is well known that orbital impacts differ depending on their location within the metropolitan area (inner and outer) as well as the activity distributional performance (agglomeration vs. decentralization of activities). These topics have received very little attention in previous studies. The paper extracts some policy considerations with respect to accessibility disparities within metropolitan areas and compares relative changes from the spatial perspective.