Study on Comprehensive Traffic Efficiency of Zoning System in Urban Central Area: A Case Study of Suzhou in China

Traffic congestion caused by rapid development of urban central areas affects the normal social order of cities. To reduce transit traffic that has nothing to do with central activities, foreign city managers have developed a traffic zoning system that divides urban central areas into several communities that prohibit motor vehicles other than public transportation vehicles from passing between communities. Based on successful cases of other nations, this study proposes a design scheme of the zoning system in the urban central area of Suzhou. The focus is on the analysis and research of the central boundary line, composition of a peripheral loop, and implementation time. TransCAD is used to evaluate the comprehensive traffic benefits of the traffic zoning system in downtown Suzhou on three levels: travel mode, impact range, and road condition indicator. Simulation results show that implementing the traffic zoning system in downtown Suzhou is necessary and conditional.