Using Travel Demand Models and Pairwise Comparisons To Evaluate Alternative Transportation Networks in Niagara

Abstract

Evaluating various alternative transportation proposals is one of the most important stages in the transportation planning process. It represents the culmination of various efforts of data collection, goals and objectives formulation, and demand modeling. Some major problems in comparing alternatives are that their effects usually are numerous, affecting various socioeconomic groups in different ways; some effects are quantifiable and others are not; and the scale and the units of each effect may be different from the others. The pairwise comparisons (PWC) method, used for a Niagara-area study, offers a structured approach to deal with this situation. The Niagara study covers a large part of the peninsula between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. A travel demand model was calibrated and used to quantify network indicators. In the comprehensive evaluation, nonnetwork criteria also were used. The PWC evaluation methodology used in this study is discussed, along with the network and nonnetwork objectives, criteria, and measures. Sensitivity analysis on the ranking results is explained. Another method of obtaining the most reliable consensus of a group of experts is compared with the PWC method. The benefits of the PWC method and conclusions are given.