Karlaftis, MGGolias, LThis paper examines the nature of the taxi market in Athens and estimates the impacts of taxi traffic on congestion. Using computer simulation and the taxi equivalence factor, a concept similar to the passenger car equivalents (PCE) for heavy vehicles, the effects regarding various traffic and environmental characteristics related to taxi traffic can be quantified. The methodology was used to estimate the effects of taxi traffic in Athens, Greece, a city whose dependence on taxis is high. The results show that the effect of taxis on traffic appears to depend on whether streets have one, two, or three traffic lanes, and on the traffic mix. But, what seems to be the most important problem of taxi traffic is the location of their stops. That is, the most important problem with taxis, in the context of Athens, is curbside stopping to drop-off/pick-up passengers. Alleviating this problem could help in improving traffic speeds in the CBD by almost 12% during the morning peak hours. © 2001 Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc.,.http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/14422551ISI:000166268600005710278-943463engENO FOUNDATION TRANSPORT INCTransportation QuarterlyHighway traffic controlMotor transportationComputer simulationUrban planningEstimationTaxicabsTraffic surveysTaxi equivalence factorPassenger car equivalentsThe Taxi Market in Athens, Greece, and Its Impacts on Urban TrafficjournalArticle2001Δημοσίευση σε περιοδικόPublication in journalΜεταφορέςTransportationisi - Transportation covers resources concerned with transportation policy, economics, management, transportation development, and transportation studies. Resources concerned with the civil engineering aspects of transportation appear in the TRANSPORTATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY categoryΕπιστημονικό άρθροScientific articleΕθνικό Μετσόβιο ΠολυτεχνείοGreek Aggregator OpenArchives.gr | National Documentation Centre (EKT)other