DATA DEVELOPMENT FOR IMPLEMENTING AN INTEGRATED LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION FORECASTING MODEL IN A MEDIUM-SIZED MPO

摘要

Integrated land use and transportation forecasting models require large amounts of data toestimate and calibrate. Obtaining reliable data sets for these models can be one of the most costprohibitive and time consuming stages of such an endeavor. For this reason many MPOs andstate DOTs have not yet adopted integrated land use and transportation forecasting tools in spiteof their clear potential.The purpose of this paper is to present a case study data development program that was able tosuccessfully provide all of the needed data for the estimation and calibration of an integratedland use and transportation forecasting model. The recently developed Cube Land model wasimplemented in the Montgomery (Alabama) Area Metropolitan Planning Organization withfunding from the Alabama Department of Transportation. The data development program wasfiscally and temporally constrained and replicates typical model development conditions inmedium-sized MPOs. This case study presents findings demonstrating that locally developeddatasets combined with national data sources and "off-the-shelf", relatively low cost but highquality, purchasable datasets can be obtained in a relatively short amount of time and aresufficient to estimate and calibrate an integrated land use and transportation forecasting model.One of the constraints placed upon this project from its funders was that both the datadevelopment and model implementation had to result in readily transferable processes that couldbe implemented by other planning agencies within the state. An argument is presented that theseprocesses are transferable not only within the state of Alabama but also to other small- tomedium-sized MPOs with in the US.