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Understanding Transportation in Urban China - Local Residents vs Migrant Workers

With rapid urbanization in China and other developing economies around the world, it has become imperative to understand household transportation behavior and expenditures in these urban areas. The objective of this study is to examine the differences in the determinants of household transportation expenditures within two very distinct populations...

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It has been nearly 25 years since non-motorized modes and non-motorized-specific built environment measures were first included in the regional travel demand models of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Such modeling practices have evolved considerably as data collection and analysis methods improve, decisions-makers demand more policy-responsive tools, and walking and cycling grow in popularity. Many models now explicitly consider the unique characteristics of walking travel, separate from travel by bicycle. As MPOs look to enhance their models’ representations of pedestrian travel, the need to understand current and emerging practice is great.

This project presents a comprehensive review of the practice of representing walking in MPO travel models. A review of model documentation determined that – as of mid-2012 – 63% (30) of the 48 largest MPOs included non-motorized travel in their regional models, while 47% (14) of those also distinguished between walk and bicycle modes. The modeling frameworks, model structures, and variables used for pedestrian and non-motorized regional modeling are described and discussed. A survey of MPO staff members revealed barriers to modeling non-motorized travel, including insufficient travel survey records, but also innovations being implemented, including smaller zones and non-motorized network assignment. Finally, best practices in...

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Kristie Gladhill, Transportation Modeler, on Modeling Safety and Urban Form.

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Pricing and Reliability Enhancements in the San Diego Activity-Based Travel Model

The estimation of demand for priced highway lanes is becoming increasingly important to agencies seeking to improve mobility and find alternative revenue sources for the provision of transportation infrastructure.

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The modelling of dependence relations between random variables is a typically studied subject in probability theory and statistics. In the recent decade, the concept of copula gained enormous success in finance and economics in the risk management and analysis context. Engineers started investigating the applications of copula in recent years; it has been widely used in Hydrology and climate studies to model rainfall and overspill risk. As a powerful tool to model dependence, copula has been applied to travel behavior modeling and model choice by several researchers. Dr. Wang will share his understanding of copula and its implications to engineers and planners in a more general uncertainty modeling framework. Some of the ongoing research efforts regarding how copula is being applied to transportation network entrance-ramp flow dependency and spatial-temporal travel time reliability study at Oregon State University.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Wang recently joined OSU from the Trine University in Angola, Indiana where he worked as assistant professor with the Reiners Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Before joining Trine University, he spent a short time as a research associate with Institute for Multimodal Transportation at...

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Abstract: We propose to decompose residential self-selection by understanding its formation process. We take a life course perspective and postulate that locations experienced early in life have a lasting effect on our locational preferences in life. In other words, what was experienced spatially is a key factor contributing to our residential self-selection and our preferences in residential locations are formed long before our own self-selection begins.  We further hypothesize that prior locational influence interacts with period effect such that the same location experienced in different periods may have distinct effects.  Using an empirically collected dataset in the New York Metropolitan Region, we estimated a series of models to test these hypotheses. The results demonstrate that prior locational influence precedes residential self-selection. Furthermore, we show a variety-seeking behavioral pattern resulted from locations experienced during adolescence.

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A system for modelling commercial movements has been developed for Calgary in Canada, implemented as part of the transportation system modelling used by the City of Calgary in policy analysis. This effort included an extensive set of surveys collecting information on the roughly 37,000 tours and 185,000 trips (within these tours) made in the Calgary Region, with its population of just over 1 million, by commercial vehicles on a typical weekday in 2001. The resulting system of models includes an agent-based microsimulation framework, using a tour-based approach, based on what has been learned from the data. It accounts for truck routes, responds to truck restrictions and related policy and provides insight into various aspects of commercial vehicle movements. All types of commercial vehicles are represented, including light vehicles, heavier single unit and multi-unit configurations. All sectors of the economy are incorporated into the representation, including retail, industrial, service and wholesaling. This modelling system has been integrated with an aggregate equilibrium model of household-related travel covering the Calgary Region, with the microsimulation processes being done in external Java applications.

Dr JD (‘Doug’) Hunt is a Professor of Transportation Engineering and Planning in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary in Canada. He is...

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Summary: Ten new megatrends will be presented with a discussion on the resulting shifts on the transportation industry. Details will include a look on broken trends and the new challenges introduced for transportation planning. Thoughts will also be presented introducing a pivot to the current model being pursued by the Connected Vehicle program. Finally, planners will be challenged to consider a new question for the future of our connected communities, you have to come to hear it.

Bio: Ted Trepanier is the Senior Director for the Public Sector with INRIX, Inc.  Prior to joining INRIX, Ted was the Director of Traffic Operations for the Washington State Department of Transportation.  In addition to his extensive background in traffic operations, he has experience in design, planning, project management and toll operations. Ted earned his Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Washington State University and Masters in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington.

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Abstract: Existing regional travel forecasting systems are not typically set up to forecast usage of bicycle infrastructure and are insensitive to bicyclists' route preferences in general. We collected revealed preference, GPS data on 162 bicyclists over the course of several days and coded the resulting trips to a highly detailed bicycle network model. We then use these data to estimate bicyclist route choice models. As part of this research, we developed a sophisticated choice set generation algorithm based on multiple permutations of labeled path attributes, which seems to out-perform comparable implementations of other route choice set generation algorithms. The model was formulated as a Path-Size Logit model to account for overlapping route alternatives. The estimation results show compelling intuitive elasticities for route choice attributes, including the effects of distance and delay; avoiding high-volumes of vehicular traffic, stops and turns, and elevation gain; and preferences for certain bike infrastructure types, particularly at bridge crossings and off-street paths. Estimation results also support segmentation by commute versus non-commute trip types, but are less clear when it comes to gender. The final model will be implemented as part of the regional travel forecasting system for Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.

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