A new Pisa project's goal is simple enough: to create a micro-simulation software package that reproduces movements on the streets in order to forecast the most congested traffic areas and make the city more liveable.
The genius behind the idea belongs to four doctoral students (Alessandra Lapucci, Diana Poletti, Claudia Casini e Saverio Palumbo) and a docent (Massimiliano Petri) from the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Pisa.
The group participated in the 'Giovani idee cambiano l'Italia' (Young Ideas will Change Italy) competition sponsored by the Ministry for Youth Policies.
The Pisa-based group placed first out of 64 contestants, which won them 35,000 euro to finance the perfecting of their idea.
The software will recreate the fabric of the city's life: from store hours, to parking costs, to bus schedules.
The system will examine all of the possible combinations among the different elements that make up the citizens' environment and, in the future, thanks to a questionnaire, hopes to also include pedestrian movement as well.
During the initial phase, the project concentrated on downtown Pisa and in particular on the effect that new bike lanes would have on traffic.
