Framework for the Transferability of Trip Generation Parameters for Small Urban Areas in Indiana

摘要

Initiating a continuing, comprehensive and coordinated transportation planning process is a considerable task that faces small metropolitan areas as their population reaches 50,000. These areas usually lack the technical know-how as well as the financial capabilities needed to use the battery of computer-oriented planning models more commonly used in larger metropolitan areas. In most cases, such sophistication is not needed because the problems faced by smaller areas are different in nature and in complexity from those in larger areas. This study examined the small and medium sized urban areas (population range: 50,000 to 250,000) of Indiana where full scale transportation studies have already been conducted, in an effort to make more efficient use of the information made available by these studies. This study focused on trip generation (frequency) models and parameters and examined the stability and transferability of these parameters between small and medium sized urban areas at three levels of aggregation: areawide, zonal and household levels. A framework was thus provided for the transferability of trip frequency parameters. Special emphasis was placed on trip generation by category analysis. Synthetic trip generation procedures aimed at eliminating the need for costly home interview O-D surveys were recommended. A methodology based on Bayesian statistics was suggested for updating cross-classified household trip generation rates.