FHWA/TX-10/0-6210-2 Accession No
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Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. FHWA/TX-10/0-6210-2 Accession No. 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Tour-Based Model Development for TxDOT: Evaluation and October 30, 2009 Transition Steps 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Ipek N. Sener, Nazneen Ferdous, Chandra R. Bhat, Phillip 0-6210-2 Reeder 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Center for Transportation Research 11. Contract or Grant No. The University of Texas at Austin 0-6210 3208 Red River, Suite 200 Austin, TX 78705-2650 Texas Transportation Institute Texas A&M University System 3135 TAMU College Station, Texas 77843-3135 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Texas Department of Transportation Technical Report Research and Technology Implementation Office 9/1/08-8/31/09 P.O. Box 5080 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Austin, TX 78763-5080 15. Supplementary Notes Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. 16. Abstract The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), in conjunction with the metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) under its purview, oversees the travel demand model development and implementation for most of the urban areas in Texas. In these urban areas, a package of computer programs labeled as the “Texas Travel Demand Package” or the “Texas Package” is used as the decision making tool to forecast travel demand and support regional planning, project evaluation, and policy analysis efforts. The Texas Package currently adopts the widely used four-step trip-based urban travel demand modeling process, which was developed in the 1960s when the focus of transportation planning was to meet long-term mobility needs through the provision of additional transportation infrastructure supply. The trip-based model was intended to provide basic, aggregate-level, long-term travel demand forecasts for long-range regional transportation plans and evaluation of major infrastructure investments. Over the past three decades, however, the supply-oriented focus of transportation planning has expanded to include the objective of evaluating a range of travel demand management strategies and policy measures to address rapidly growing transportation problems, including traffic congestion and air quality concerns. The travel demand management emphasis, combined with federal regulations, has placed additional information demands on the capabilities of travel demand models. As a result, new approaches have been developed to model and forecast travel demand. The new approaches include the tour-based modeling approach, which employs tours instead of trips as the unit of analysis. The tour-based approach enhances the behavioral realism in modeling travel demand and the abilities of travel forecasting models in assessing transportation policies and evaluating alternative transportation investments. Hence, TxDOT is considering the implementation of tour-based modeling procedures. As a first step of a potential advanced model implementation, this proposed project evaluates the feasibility of, and documents the potential benefits from, a tour-based modeling process. It documents the steps to transition toward a tour-based framework, including an evaluation of data needs, software requirements, and software enhancements, ease of implementation and application, and staffing and related resource needs. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement TxDOT travel demand modeling, Tour-based No restrictions. This document is available to the modeling public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161; www.ntis.gov. 19. Security Classif. (of report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 228 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized Tour-Based Model Development for TxDOT: Evaluation and Transition Steps CTR Ipek N. Sener Nazneen Ferdous Chandra R. Bhat TTI Phillip Reeder CTR Technical Report: 0-6210-2 Report Date: October 30, 2009 Project: 0-6210 Project Title: Adding Tour-Based Modeling to TxDOT's Travel Modeling Framework Sponsoring Agency: Texas Department of Transportation Performing Agency: Center for Transportation Research at The University of Texas at Austin Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin 3208 Red River Austin, TX 78705 www.utexas.edu/research/ctr Copyright (c) 2009 Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America iv Disclaimers Author's Disclaimer: The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of the Federal Highway Administration or the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Patent Disclaimer: There was no invention or discovery conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the course of or under this contract, including any art, method, process, machine manufacture, design or composition of matter, or any new useful improvement thereof, or any variety of plant, which is or may be patentable under the patent laws of the United States of America or any foreign country. Notice: The United States Government and the State of Texas do not endorse products or manufacturers. If trade or manufacturers' names appear herein, it is solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. Engineering Disclaimer NOT INTENDED FOR CONSTRUCTION, BIDDING, OR PERMIT PURPOSES. Project Engineer: Chandra R. Bhat Professional Engineer License State and Number: Texas No. 88971 P. E. Designation: Research Supervisor v Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Janie Temple and Greg Lancaster for their input and guidance during the course of this research project. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1. A Review of Current Tour-based Travel Demand Models .................................... 1 1.1 Travel Demand Models .........................................................................................................1 1.2 Trip-based versus Tour-based Travel Demand Models .........................................................2 1.3 The Transition toward Tour-based Frameworks ...................................................................4 1.4 The Case of Texas ..................................................................................................................5 1.5 Research Objectives, Purpose, and Outline of the Report .....................................................6 Chapter 2. Current TxDOT Travel Demand Modeling Practice and Future Modeling Needs in Texas .............................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................7 2.2 Texas Package Model Inputs ...............................................................................................14 2.3 Texas Package Model Outputs ............................................................................................43 2.4 Texas Package Utilities ........................................................................................................50 2.5 Texas Modeling Resources ..................................................................................................50 Chapter 3. A Review of Current Tour-based Travel Demand Models .................................. 59 3.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................59 3.2 A Review of Tour-based Models in Practice .......................................................................59 3.3 The SF-CHAMP Model .......................................................................................................64 3.4 The MORPC Model .............................................................................................................72 3.5 The SACSIM Model ............................................................................................................81 3.6 The NYBPM Model .............................................................................................................92 3.7 Summary of the Chapter ....................................................................................................100 Chapter 4. Model Design Recommendations for TxDOT and Data Needs ......................... 107 4.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................107 4.2 Model Design Recommendations ......................................................................................107 4.3 Data Needs and Recommendations ...................................................................................123 4.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................129 Chapter 5. Data Availability for Transportation Modeling.................................................