What is MoCho?
The individual choices people make about their mobility behavior have profound impacts on their own lives, as well as society as a whole. This is particularly true with regard to their chosen mode of urban transportation. Motorized transportation leads to negative external impacts such as carbon emissions and air pollution, whereas active modes such as walking and cycling improve the physical and mental health of the travelers. Urban planning can influence these mobility choices and their societal impacts by organizing spatial land uses in such a way as to encourage short trips using active modes.
The CityScope MoCho module uses tangible user interface that allows planners, engineers, and community members alike to experiment with urban interventions and see the predicted impacts on individual mode choice behavior, as well as the resulting societal impacts. The first prototype of this module is being used to show the potential impacts of the new Volpe development in Kendall Square. The behavioral models have been calibrated using a combination of individual—and aggregate—level census data for the greater Boston area.