SummaryofWebinarQ&A

Question:Howdoyouaccountforshoppers,doctorappointments,etc.?
GuyRousseau:Typicallythereisahomebasedshoppingtrippurpose
Question:HowwelldoesthelanduseandTDMlinkagework?Isthereavalidationprocesssothatitcan
beshownthattheunderlyinglanduseassumedfortheTDMisappropriate?
GuyRousseau:Usuallytherewouldbeafeedbackloopfromthelandusemodelfeedingbacktothe
traveldemandmodel,viacompositeimpedances,suchascongestedtraveltimes,inordertoproperly
reflectcongestionthroughoutlanduseandtraveldemandforecasts
Question:DoestheHHSizebreakoutHHbyage?(i.e.drivingage?)
GuyRousseau:Thetraditional4stepmodelsometimesfailtoaccountforageofthehousehold
members(thoughhouseholdsizedoesbreakoutbyincomegroupstypically),yetanactivitybased
modelwithapopulationsynthesizerallowstotakeintoconsiderationageofthehouseholdmembers
Question:Howdoyousuggestmodelingmilitarybaseswherepopulationandemploymentvaries
significantlyfromtimetotime?
GuyRousseau:Aspecialgenerator,combinedwithseasonalityeffects,mightdothetrickhere
Question:Isthereanyguidance/publicationsouttheretogofromadailytraveldemandmodeltoatime
ofdaymodel?
GuyRousseau:Thediurnaldistributionoftrafficthroughoutthedaywoulddictatetheneedtoswitchto
atimeofdaymodel,sayifyouseetheemergenceofamiddaypeak,thenatimeofdaymodelmaybe
warranted
Question:Howdoyouaccountforthedivertedtrips?
GuyRousseau:Divertedtripsmaybebestaccountedforwithinatrafficmicrosimulationmodel,or
perhapsevenatourbasedmodel,traditionalmodelsaresomewhatlimitedtoproperlyreflecttrip
diversion
Question:Isbike/pedpartofthislogitmodel?
GuyRousseau:Bike/pedtripsareoftensetasideaftertripgeneration,andnotalwaysassigned,unless
youhaveagoodbike/pedchoicemodelwithenoughdatatosupportit
Question:Soifyourunascenariowithandwithoutabypass,thenatraditionalmodelisnotthebest
waytoestimatediversionfromtheexistingfacilitytothebypass?
GuyRousseau:itdependsuponhowdetailedyournetworkcodingis,butinthecaseofabypass,the
traditionalmodelmightsufficehereinthiscase,dependinguponitsfunctionalclassification
Question:HowdoyouestimatethetravelassociatedwiththeUSGAannualchampionshiptournament?
GuyRousseau:specialeventsarenotalwayswellaccountedforinatypicalweekday/workdaymodel,
unlessonehasaspecialeventmodelcomponent
Question:Sayatripisnotdirectlyfromworktohome,butinsteadworktoshopthentohome,howdo
youdefinethesekindsoftrips?
GuyRousseau:nonhomebased,thenhomebasedother

Question:Doyoucalibratetheintersectionturningmovementvolumes?
GuyRousseau:intersectionturningmovementsarenotnecessarilyalwayscalibratedwithinaregional
traveldemandmodel,buttheyareasapartofatrafficmicrosimulationmodel
Question:IstherealegitimatewaytocalculateVMTandVHTfromTAZtoTAZinamodelwith4000
TAZs?
GuyRousseau:zonetozonematricesandskimmatrices,combinedwithtraveltimesanddistances
fromzonetozonemayhelpheredeterminewhatyouneed
Question:Howdoyoumodelcollegefootballgamesinthefall?
GuyRousseau:hereagain,specialeventswouldneedtobepostprocessedinordertobefactoredin,
rememberherewemodelthetypicalweekdayworkday
Question:Iftheintersectionturningmovementvolumesarenotcalibrated,howdowegetthefuture
intersectionturningmovementvolumesfromtheforecastingmodel?
GuyRousseau:whilewemayobtainintersectingvolumesfromlinkscrossings,leftturnandrightturn
andthroughmovementsarebestobtainedinamicrosimulationmodel
Question:Isthereagoodwaytoaccountforsignalsinatraditionalmodel?
GuyRousseau:viaturnpenaltiesandturnprohibitionsyoumayaccountfortrafficsignals
Question:TranscadorTransplanwhichisbetter?
GaryThomas:FHWAandtheTMIPprogramdonotendorseorcommentonthequalityofvarious
softwarepackages.
Question:Howarethedifferentattractioncriteriaweighted?Forexamplewhenweighingtransitwith
thecriterialistedtheoverallcostwouldbelowerwhereastraveltimemaybehigher.Ultimatelyhow
couldyouusethecriteriatoplanfordifferentmodalbalancingutilizingexistingtraveldata?
EricPihl:Generallythoserelationshipsareestablishedwhenmodelsareestimated.Generallychoice
basedmodelsenabletheinclusionofvariablesthatrelatetolandusecharacteristicsandother
importantattributes,andthoseweightsarederivedusingmodelestimationsoftware(alogitandlimdep
arecommonpackages)
Question:Howcanamodelreplicateandevaluatecompletestreetpolicy?
EricPihl:Somemodelsinthe90sweredevelopedwith'pedestrianenvironmentfactors'todescribe
bike/pedfriendlinessandconsideredinnetworkassignment.Otherapproachesmayincludeadjusting
thespeedandcapacityinputstomodelsasaproxyfordesignimprovements.
Question:Ifwewouldliketosimulatetheintersectionoperationin2030,weneedtogetthe
intersectionturningmovementfromtheforecastingmodel,butwejustdon'thavetheaccurate
volumesifnotcalibrated?
EricPihl:Turningmovementsareoftendifficulttomatchwithouttheadoptionofturnpenaltiesintrip
assignment.ManyareasuseNCHRP255methodsthatsimplyfactorcountsbasedonmodelderived
growthrates.