Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) are key components of the transportation systems within future smart cities, in which information and communication technologies interact to enhance the transportation system. By collecting and analyzing real-time data, and applying advanced data analytics techniques, ITS can make better-informed decisions, that are sent back to the network actuators (cars, drivers, traffic signals, travelers,... etc.) to solve or at least mitigate the ongoing transportation problems. In such feedback systems, the communication network is a major component that interacts with the transportation applications. Consequently, it is imperative to study the mutual interactions and effects between the communication and the transportation networks. The key enabler for such studies is the large-scale modeling of communication and transportation systems. However, developing such models is challenging, not only because of the intricate interdependency between the communication and transportation systems but also because of the scale of such systems that usually covers a city-level network with hundreds of thousands of travelers concurrently moving and communicating in the network. Consequently, in our research, we are interested in studying the mutual impact of the communication and transportation systems in large-scale networks while focusing on eco-routing navigation applications that attempt to minimize the transportation network carbon footprint. Our objectives are: 1) enabling the large-scale modeling of transportation systems in smart cities including both transportation and communication systems and 2) studying the mutual interactions between the communication and the transportation systems in real-world networks. Under this umbrella, we introduced two simulation frameworks to realistically model the communication in vehicular systems. Subsequently, we use them to study the mutual influence of the communication and transportation system. Moreover, we designed, developed, and tested a multi-modal agent-based simulation platform which can simulate large-scale transportation systems. The results show that, in congested road networks, the communication performance has a significant impact on the transportation system performance. Moreover, the results show that there is a negative mutual impact loop that may lead to a degrading performance of both systems. Thus, it is important to consider this impact when deploying new ITS technologies that utilize vehicular wireless communication. / PHD / In future smart cities, communication network is a major component that interacts with the transportation applications. Consequently, it is imperative to study the mutual interactions and effects between the communication and the transportation networks. Studying these systems is challenging, not only because of the intricate interdependency between the communication and transportation but also because of the scale of these systems that usually covers a city-level network with hundreds of thousands of travelers concurrently moving and communicating in the network. Therefore, in this dissertation, our main objectives are: 1) to enable the large-scale modeling of transportation systems in smart cities including both transportation and communication systems and 2) to study the mutual interactions between the communication and the transportation systems in real-world networks. Under this umbrella, we introduced two simulation frameworks to realistically model the communication in vehicular systems. Subsequently, we used them to study the mutual influence of the communication and transportation system. Moreover, we designed, developed, and tested a multi-modal agent-based simulation platform which can simulate large-scale transportation systems. The results show that, in congested road networks, the communication performance has a significant impact on the transportation system performance. Moreover, they show that there is a negative mutual impact loop that may lead to a degrading performance of both systems. Thus, it is important to consider this impact when deploying new ITS technologies that utilize vehicular wireless communication.

L'éco-routage est une méthode de navigation du véhicule qui sélectionne les trajets vers une destination minimisant la consommation de carburant, la consommation d'énergie ou les émissions de polluants. C'est l'une des techniques qui tentent de réduire les coûts d'exploitation et l'empreinte environnementale du véhicule. Ce travail passe en revue les méthodes actuelles d'éco-routage et propose une nouvelle méthode pour pallier leurs insuffisances. La plupart des méthodes actuelles attribuent à chaque route du réseau routier un coût constant qui représente la consommation du véhicule ou la quantité de polluants émis. Un algorithme de routage optimal est ensuite utilisé pour trouver le chemin qui minimise la somme de ces coûts. Différentes extensions sont considérées dans la littérature. L'éco-routage contraint permet d'imposer des limites sur le temps de trajet, la consommation d'énergie et les émissions de polluants. L'éco-routage dépendant du temps permet le routage sur un graphique avec des coûts qui sont fonction du temps. L'éco-routage adaptatif permet de mettre à jour la solution d'éco-routage au cas où elle deviendrait invalide en raison d'un développement inattendu sur la route. Il existe des méthodes d'éco-routage optimales publiées qui résolvent l'éco-routage dépendant du temps ou l'éco-routage contraint ou l'éco-routage adaptatif. Chacun vient avec des frais généraux de calcul considérablement plus élevés par rapport à l'éco-routage standard et, à la connaissance de l'auteur, aucune méthode publiée ne prend en charge la combinaison des trois: éco-routage adaptatif dépendant du temps contraint. On soutient dans ce travail que les coûts d'acheminement sont incertains en raison de leur dépendance au trafic immédiat autour du véhicule, du comportement du conducteur et d'autres perturbations. Il est en outre soutenu que puisque ces coûts sont incertains, il y a peu d'avantages à utiliser un routage optimal car l'optimalité de la solution ne tient que tant que les coûts de routage sont corrects. Au lieu de cela, une méthode d'approximation est proposée dans ce travail. La charge de calcul est plus faible car la solution n'est pas requise pour être optimale. Cela permet l'éco-routage adaptatif dépendant du temps contraint. / Eco-routing is a vehicle navigation method that selects those paths to a destination that minimize fuel consumption, energy consumption or pollutant emissions. It is one of the techniques that attempt to lower vehicle's operational cost and environmental footprint. This work reviews the current eco-routing methods and proposes a new method designed to overcome their shortcomings. Most current methods assign every road in the road network some constant cost that represents either vehicle's consumption there or the amount of emitted pollutants. An optimal routing algorithm is then used to find the path that minimizes the sum of these costs. Various extensions are considered in the literature. Constrained eco-routing allows imposing limits on travel time, energy consumption, and pollutant emissions. Time-dependent eco-routing allows routing on a graph with costs that are functions of time. Adaptive eco-routing allows updating the eco-routing solution in case it becomes invalid due to some unexpected development on the road. There exist published optimal eco-routing methods that solve either the time-dependent eco-routing, or constrained eco-routing, or adaptive eco-routing. Each comes with considerably higher computational overhead with respect to the standard eco-routing and, to author's best knowledge, no published method supports the combination of all three: constrained time-dependent adaptive eco-routing. It is argued in this work that the routing costs are uncertain because of their dependence on immediate traffic around the vehicle, on driver's behavior, and other perturbations. It is further argued that since these costs are uncertain, there is little benefit in using optimal routing because the optimality of the solution holds only as long as the routing costs are correct. Instead, an approximation method is proposed in this work. The computational overhead is lower since the solution is not required to be optimal. This enables the constrained time-dependent adaptive eco-routing.

Manufacturers of passenger vehicles are experiencing increased pressure from consumers and legislators due to the impact of transportation on the environment. Automotive manufacturers are responding by designing more sustainable forms of transportation through a variety of efforts, including increased vehicle efficiency and the electrification of vehicle powertrains (plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV)). An additional method for reducing the environmental impact of personal transport is eco-routing, a methodology which selects routes on the basis of energy consumption. Standard navigation systems offer route alternatives between a user clarified origin and destination when there are multiple paths available. These alternatives are commonly weighted on the basis of minimizing either total travel time (TTT) or trip distance. Eco-routing offers an alternative criterion – minimizing route energy consumption. Calculation of the energy consumption of a route necessitates the creation of a velocity profile which models how the route will be driven and a powertrain model which relates energy consumption to the constructed velocity profile. Existing research efforts related to both of these aspects typically require complex analysis and proprietary vehicle properties. A new approach to weighting the energy consumption of different routes is presented within this paper. The process of synthesizing velocity profiles is an improvement upon simpler models while requiring fewer variables as compared to more complex models. A single input, the maximum acceleration, is required to tune driver aggressiveness throughout an entire route. Additionally, powertrain results are simplified through the application of a new parameter, predictive terminal energy. The parameter uses only glider properties as inputs, as compared to dedicated powertrain models which use proprietary vehicle information as inputs which are not readily available from manufacturers. Application of this research reduces computation time and increases the number of vehicles for which this analysis can be applied. An example routing scenario is presented, demonstrating the capability of the velocity synthesis and predictive terminal energy methodologies. / Master of Science / Research into environmental issues associated with greenhouse gas emissions(GHG) has placed increased pressure on a wide range of industries, transportation in particular. The studied impact of transportation on the environment is shaping legislative efforts and consumer expectations for more energy efficient vehicles. Vehicle manufactures are responding by designing more efficient vehicles such as plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Beyond efforts into improving vehicle design, research is also being conducted into the efficient routing of vehicles. Navigation systems often provide multiple options for traveling from a specified origin and destination. These systems typically report the trip distance and time enabling the traveler to make an informed decision of which route to select. Eco‐routing seeks to add a new metric associated with each route option – the energy required to travel from the origin to the destination. Calculating the energy required to travel a given route involves estimating driver behavior and the powertrain response. Calculation of these two factors within existing research typically involves complicated analysis and a variety of vehicle parameters which are not easily accessible. A new approach to modeling the driver behavior and route dynamics over a given route is presented in this thesis. The presented method for creating velocity profiles is notably less complex than existing research efforts. Additionally, calculation of the powertrain response, or the energy expended to traverse a given route, is explored. Eco‐routing methods discussed in current research often require specific and proprietary information about vehicles to produce results. This thesis simplifies the process of estimating the energy required to complete a route by reducing the required information about passenger vehicles to solely publicly available information. An example routing scenario is presented which provides a demonstration of the discussed methods for approximating driver behavior and powertrain response.

Automotive vehicle manufacturers have been facing increased pressures from legislative bodies and consumers to reduce the fuel consumption and harmful emissions of their newly produced vehicles as a result of new research showing the detrimental effects these emissions have on the environment. These pressures are encouraging manufactures and researchers to invest billions of dollars into the development of new advanced vehicle technologies. Some of these investments have resulted in substantial progress in powertrain technologies that have led to the preliminary adoption of electrified powertrain vehicles. Other areas of research are actively working to reduce the energy consumption of a vehicle, regardless of its powertrain, by influencing driver behavior and by optimizing the way a vehicle travels between an origin and destination. This intelligent vehicle routing is done by analyzing a range of possible routes and selecting the route that consumes the least amount of fuel. An accurate method for predetermining vehicle energy expenditure along a given route before it is driven is needed to effectively implement intelligent vehicle routing systems. One common method is the generation of a road network-wide database with energy use figures for each section of road. This method requires expensive experimentation trials or network simulation software. Individual-level vehicle predictive energy estimation eliminates the need for costly fuel use generation by utilizing vehicle velocity generation techniques and vehicle powertrain models. Estimation of individual vehicle energy consumption along a route is done by identifying an origin-destination pair, detecting required full-stops along the path, and synthesizing multiple stop-to-stop velocity modes between each set of stops. The resulting velocity profile is paired with a specific vehicle powertrain model to determine fuel consumption. A drawback of this route generation technique is that the vehicle path is assumed to be one-dimensional and lacks inclusion of road curves and their associated velocity changes to maintain passenger comfort. This thesis evaluates the merit of discounting road curves in predictive vehicle energy consumption analyses and presents a technique for modeling common road corners that require velocity changes to limit passenger discomfort. The resulting corner synthesis method is combined with a validated vehicle powertrain model to complete full route consumption modeling. Two routes, an urban and highway, are modeled and driven to evaluate the accuracy of the full simulation model when compared with on-road data. The results show that corners can largely be ignored during energy consumption analysis for highways. The cornering effects on a vehicle during urban driving, however, should be included in urban route analyses with multiple road curves. Inclusion of the cornering effects during an example urban route analysis decreased the error between the on-road consumption data and the simulation results. / Master of Science / Automotive vehicle manufacturers have been facing increased pressures from legislative bodies and consumers to reduce the fuel consumption and harmful emissions of their newly produced vehicles as a result of new research showing the detrimental effects these emissions have on the environment. These pressures are encouraging manufactures and researchers to invest billions of dollars into the development of new advanced vehicle technologies. Some of these investments have resulted in substantial progress in powertrain technologies that have led to the preliminary adoption of electrified powertrain vehicles. Other areas of research are actively working to reduce the energy consumption of a vehicle, regardless of its powertrain, by influencing driver behavior and by optimizing the way a vehicle travels between an origin and destination. This intelligent vehicle routing is done by analyzing a range of possible routes and selecting the route that consumes the least amount of fuel. An accurate method for predetermining vehicle energy expenditure along a given route before it is driven is needed to effectively implement intelligent vehicle routing systems. One common method is the generation of a road network-wide database with energy use figures for each section of road. This method requires expensive experimentation trials or network simulation software. Individual-level vehicle predictive energy estimation eliminates the need for costly fuel use generation by utilizing vehicle velocity generation techniques and vehicle powertrain models. Estimation of individual vehicle energy consumption along a route is done by identifying an origin-destination pair, detecting required full-stops along the path, and synthesizing multiple stop-to-stop velocity modes between each set of stops. The resulting velocity profile is paired with a specific vehicle powertrain model to determine fuel consumption. A drawback of this route generation technique is that the vehicle path is assumed to be one-dimensional and lacks inclusion of road curves and their associated velocity changes to maintain passenger comfort. This thesis evaluates the merit of discounting road curves in predictive vehicle energy consumption analyses and presents a technique for modeling common road corners that require velocity changes to limit passenger discomfort. The resulting corner synthesis method is combined with a validated vehicle powertrain model to complete full route consumption modeling. Two routes, an urban and highway, are modeled and driven to evaluate the accuracy of the full simulation model when compared with on-road data. The results show that corners can largely be ignored during energy consumption analysis for highways. The cornering effects on a vehicle during urban driving, however, should be included in urban route analyses with multiple road curves. Inclusion of the cornering effects during an example urban route analysis decreased the error between the on-road consumption data and the simulation results.

A door-to-door trip may involve multiple traffic modes. For example, travelers may drive to a subway station and make a transfer to rail transit; alternatively, people may also start their trips by walking/cycling to a bus/subway station and then take transit in most of the trip. A successful eco-route planning thus should be able to cover multiple traffic modes and offer intermodal routing suggestions. Developing such a system requires to address extensive concerns. The dissertation is a building block of the multi-modal energy-efficient routing system which is being developed and tested in the simulation environment before real applications. Four submodules have been developed in the dissertation as partial fulfillment of the simulation-based system: energy consumption modeling, subway system development, on-road vehicles dynamic eco-routing, and information effect on route choice behavior. Other submodules such as pedestrian/bicycle modeling will be studied in the future. Towards the research goal, the dissertation first develops fuel consumption models for on-road vehicles. Given that gasoline light duty vehicles (LDVs) and electric vehicles were modeled in previous studies, the research effort mainly focuses on heavy duty vehicles (HDVs). Specifically, heavy duty diesel trucks (HDDTs) as well as diesel and hybrid-electric transit buses are modeled. The models are developed based on the Virginia Tech Comprehensive Power-based Fuel consumption Modeling (VT-CPFM) framework. The results demonstrate that the model estimates are highly consistent with field observations as well as the estimates of the Comprehensive Modal Emissions Model (CMEM) and MOtor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES). It is also found that the optimum fuel economy cruise speed ranges between 32 and 52 km/h for the tested trucks and between 39 and 47 km/h for the tested buses on grades varying from 0% to 8%, which is significantly lower than LDVs (60-80 km/h). The dissertation then models electric train dynamics and energy consumption in support of subway simulation system development and trip energy estimation. The dynamics model varies throttle and brake level with running speed rather than assuming constants as was done by previous studies, and the energy consumption model considers instantaneous energy regeneration. Both models can be easily calibrated using non-engine data and implemented in simulation systems and eco-transit applications. The results of the dynamics modeling demonstrate that the proposed model can adequately capture instantaneous acceleration/deceleration behavior and thus produce realistic train trajectories. The results of the energy consumption modeling demonstrate that the model produces the estimates consistent with the National Transit Database (NTD) results, and is applicable for project-level analysis given its ability in capturing the energy consumption differences associated with train, route and operational characteristics. The most suitable simulation testbed for system development is then identified. The dissertation investigates four state-of-the-art microsimulation models (INTEGRATION, VISSIM, AIMSUM, PARAMICS). Given that the car-following model within a micro-simulator controls longitudinal vehicle motion and thus determines the resulting vehicle trajectories, the research effort mainly focuses on the performance of the built-in car-following models from the energy and environmental perspective. The vehicle specific power (VSP) distributions resulting from each of the car-following models are compared to the field observations. The results demonstrate that the Rakha-Pasumarthy-Adjerid (RPA) model (implemented in the INTEGRATION software) outperforms the Gipps (AIMSUM), Fritzsche (PARAMICS) and Wiedemann (VISSIM) models in generating accurate VSP distributions and fuel consumption and emission estimates. This demonstrates the advantage of the INTEGRATION model over the other three simulation models for energy and environmental analysis. A new eco-routing model, comprehensively considering microscopic characteristics, is then developed, followed by a numerical experiment to test the benefit of the model. With the resulting eco-routing model, an on-road vehicle dynamic eco-routing system is constructed for in-vehicle navigation applications, and tested for different congestion levels. The results of the study demonstrate that the proposed eco-routing model is able to generate reasonable routing suggestions based on real-time information while at the same time differentiate eco-routes between vehicle models. It is also found that the proposed dynamic eco-routing system achieves lower network-wide energy consumption levels compared to the traditional eco-routing and travel time routing at all congestion levels. The results also demonstrate that the conventional fuel savings relative to the travel time routing decrease with the increasing congestion level; however, the electric power savings do not monotonically vary with congestion level. Furthermore, the energy savings relative to the traditional eco-routing are also not monotonically related to congestion level. In addition, network configuration is demonstrated to significantly affect eco-routing benefits. The dissertation finally investigates the potential to influence driver behavior by studying the impact of information on route choice behavior based on a real world experiment. The results of the experiment demonstrate that the effectiveness of information in routing rationality depends upon the traveler's age, preferences, route characteristics, and information type. Specifically, information effect is less evident for elder travelers. Also, the provided information may not be contributing if travelers value other considerations or one route significantly outperforms the others. The results also demonstrate that, when travelers have limited experiences, strict information is more effective than variability information, and that the faster less reliable route is more attractive than the slower more reliable route; yet the difference becomes insignificant with experiences accumulation. The results of the study will be used to enhance system design through considering route choice incentives. / Ph. D. / A door-to-door trip may involve multiple traffic modes. For example, travelers may drive to a subway station and make a transfer to rail transit; alternatively, people may also start their trips by walking/cycling to a bus/subway station and then take transit in most of the trip. A successful eco-route planning thus should be able to cover multiple traffic modes and offer intermodal routing suggestions. Developing such a system requires to address extensive concerns. The dissertation is a building block of the multi-modal energy-efficient routing system which is being developed and tested in the simulation environment before real applications. Four submodules have been developed in the dissertation as partial fulfillment of the simulation-based system: energy consumption modeling, subway system development, on-road vehicles dynamic eco-routing, and information effect on route choice behavior. Other submodules such as pedestrian/bicycle modeling will be studied in the future. Towards the research goal, the dissertation first develops fuel consumption models for on-road vehicles. Given that gasoline light duty vehicles (LDVs) and electric vehicles were modeled in previous studies, the research effort mainly focuses on heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) including heavy duty diesel trucks (HDDTs) as well as diesel and hybrid-electric transit buses. The model estimates are demonstrated to provide a good fit to field data. The dissertation then models electric train dynamics and energy consumption in support of subway simulation system development and trip energy estimation. The proposed dynamics model is able to produce realistic acceleration behavior, and the proposed energy consumption model can provide robust energy estimates that are consistent with field data. Both models can be calibrated without mechanical data and thus easily implemented in complex frameworks such as simulation systems and eco-transit applications. The most suitable simulation testbed for system development is then identified. The dissertation investigates four state-of-the-art microsimulation models (INTEGRATION, VISSIM, AIMSUM, PARAMICS). The results demonstrate that INTEGRATION outperforms the other three simulation models for energy and environmental analysis. Also, INTEGRATION is able to generate measures of effectiveness (MOEs) for electric vehicles, which makes it more competitive than the state-of-the-art counterpart. A dynamic eco-routing system is then developed in the INTEGRATION simulation environment. The built-in eco-routing model of the system comprehensively considers microscopic characteristics and is demonstrated to generate reasonable routing solutions based on real-time information while at the same time differentiate vehicle models. The system is able to provide routing suggestions for both conventional gasoline/diesel and electric vehicles. The testing results demonstrate that the proposed eco-routing system achieves network-wide energy savings compared to the traditional eco-routing and travel time routing at all tested congestion levels. Also, network configuration is demonstrated to significantly affect eco-routing benefits. The dissertation finally investigates the potential to influence driver behavior by studying the impact of information on route choice behavior based on a real world experiment. The results of the experiment demonstrate that the effectiveness of information in routing rationality depends upon the traveler’s age, preferences, route characteristics, and information type. Specifically, information effect is less evident for elder travelers. Also, the provided information may not be contributing if travelers value other considerations or one route significantly outperforms the others. The results also demonstrate that, when travelers have limited experiences, strict information is more effective than variability information, and that the faster less reliable route is more attractive than the slower more reliable route; yet the difference becomes insignificant with experiences accumulation. The results of the study will be used to enhance system design through considering route choice incentives.

Le contexte écologique et économique actuel incite les autorités et le public à la réduction des émissions de CO2 et les dépendances vis-à-vis des hydrocarbures. Le transport représente 23 % des émissions de polluants dans le monde, et ce chiffre passe à 39 % pour la France. L’adoption de nouvelles solutions de transport est primordiale pour la réduction de ces émissions. L’électromobilité représente une alternative viable aux véhicules thermiques conventionnels. Si les véhicules électriques permettent une mobilité avec zéro émission, certaines de leurs caractéristiques empêchent leur développement. Les principaux freins à l’adoption de ce type de véhicules sont l’autonomie limitée, le faible déploiement des stations de recharge en milieu urbain (et extra urbain) ainsi que les temps de recharge importants. Aussi, afin de promouvoir l’usage de ce type de mobilité, il incombe de développer des outils visant à optimiser la consommation électrique tenant compte des caractéristiques liées à ce type de mobilité. C’est l’objectif de ce travail de thèse qui se focalise sur le développement d’outils permettant d’optimiser l’usage de véhicules électriques. Pour ce faire, trois grands axes sont définis : la modélisation des véhicules électriques, l’affectation des stations de recharge et le choix d’éco-itinéraires. La première partie de cette thèse s’intéresse à l’estimation de la consommation des véhicules électriques ainsi qu’à la présentation de la librairie de modèles dynamiques VEHLIB d’estimation de la consommation de ce type de véhicules. La seconde partie est consacrée à l’affectation optimale des stations de recharge. Une méthodologie de déploiement d’infrastructures de recharge est proposée pour la ville de Lyon avec prise en compte de la demande de mobilité issue des enquêtes ménages déplacements. La troisième partie de la thèse s’intéresse à la thématique du choix d’éco-itinéraire (green routing). Celle-ci aboutit à la proposition d’une méthodologie multi-objectif de recherche de stations de recharge afin de déterminer des itinéraires optimaux avec déviation vers ces stations lorsque l’état de charge de la batterie du véhicule ne permet pas de terminer le trajet. Pour finir, une expérimentation a été réalisée à l’aide d’un véhicule électrique équipé de capteurs de position et de consommation pour d’une part valider les méthodologies proposées et d’autre part analyser les facteurs exogènes qui influent sur la consommation des véhicules électriques. / The current ecological and economic context encourages the authorities and the public to reduce CO2 emissions and oil dependence. The transportation is responsible for 23% of pollutants emissions in the world, and this proportion increases up to 37% in France/ The adoption of new transport solutions is primordial to reduce these emissions. Electro mobility is a viable alternative to conventional vehicles. While electric vehicles offer mobility with zero emissions, some of their characteristicds impede their development. The main obtacle to the adoption of these vehicles is the limited autonomy, a sparse distribution of charging stations in urban areas as well as a significant charging time. Also, to promote the use of this type of mobility, it is primordial to develop tools that optimize the energy consumption and take in to account the characteristics associated with this type of mobility. To achieve this, three areas are difined: modeling of electric vehicles, optimized charging station deployment and eco routing. The first part of this theis focuses on the consumption estimation of the electric vehicles and the presentation of the dynamic model library VEHLIB. The second part is dedicated to optimal allocation of charging stations; A methodology for the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructures is proposed for the urban area o fthe city of Lyon, taking into account the mobility demand derived from the household travel surveys.The third part of the thesis deals with the eco-routing (green routing). A multi-objective methodology for eco routing with recharge en-route is proposed. The solutions take into account battery state does not permit to finish the trip.Finally, an experiment was carried out using an electric vehicle equipped with position and consumption sensors in order to validate the proposed methodologies and analyze exogenous factor that impact the electric vehicle consumption.

In a time when the concept of sustainability is gaining increasing attention among the public, as well as among stake holders and policy makers, informing people about what the most sustainable choice to make is, is crucial in leading people in the right direction.  Travelling is an activity requiring a traveller to make multiple choices, with one of the choices being which route between two places to take. The transport sector is also a strong contributing cause to global issues such as climate change, wherefore choices made in relation to transportation are highly relevant in regard to sustainable development.  Up until today, most traffic information systems for passenger car users, only provide travellers with suggestions about the fastest, or the shortest, route option. This study aims at proposing a modelling structure using GIS software, that could also return the most sustainable route alternative.  The complexity of the many spatial impacts of road transportation is thoroughly discussed in the literature review, together with dilemmas regarding route choice behaviours. A proposed modelling structure is presented, with the structure also empirically being examined as a “proof of concept”. The empirical work takes place in the urban area of Hörnefors, Sweden, and findings confirm the applicability of the proposed workflow.  In the specific case of Hörnefors, three distinct route options are investigated, in relation to four sustainability impact variables. The variables investigated are fuel consumption, air pollution, noise, and safety. Results show that the, by far, longest route, is in fact returned as the most sustainable route option. The other two route options exhibit impacts of around double the amount of impacts yielded by the most sustainable one. The generalised sustainability cost is significantly mostly determined by the air pollution variable, due to its far-reaching spatial dispersion patterns yielding impacts even at long distances from a road.  The potential application of the inclusion of sustainability in traffic information systems are additionally reviewed, according to the behavioural mechanisms mentioned in the literature 4review. Estimations of in what contexts “most sustainable route” suggestions are potentially most likely to yield behavioural changes, are also made, and assessed. Conclusions suggest that an inclusion of “most sustainable route option” modelling into travel information systems, have the highest potential to affect route choices when the user is driving at locations previously unvisited, due to the inexistence of a status quo route in such contexts.