Transportation Planning Development Research Articles

TRIP GENERATION OF ADULT WORKERS: A CASE OF GHANA

Understanding the travel behaviour of road users is important in the development of transportation plans. In Ghana, most studies focus on mode choice modelling with truly little studies on trip generation. This paper examines the influence of household and individual characteristics together with other explanatory variables on trip generation using data from the 2012 Ghana Transport Indicator Database Survey which was conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service. Linear regression models were used to model the number of trips by car, bicycle, motorcycle, foot, taxi and bus for all working adults. The results from the study show that gender, age, education level and residential location all show a significant impact on the number of trips generated for the different trip modes. From the results, the cultural background of a worker also significantly affect bicycle trips a worker make. Also, adult household is that reside in the city center make fewer trips by car than similar adults that live outside the city center. The number of trips generated by an adult worker can also be used to explain the perception variables estimate. The model results can also be used to make trip generation prediction in developing transportation plans for Ghana

Safety-Conscious Planning in Practice

In response to U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) guidance, and acting at a regional level, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, Inc. (NJTPA), initiated the Development of Regional Safety Priorities study to identify transportation safety needs and solutions in the 13-county NJTPA region. The study was a proactive, multimodal effort to elevate safety considerations to a high priority at all levels of decision making. The project's goal was to develop specific, targeted metropolitan planning organization (MPO) actions to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes. The study incorporated principles of Safety Conscious Planning, a USDOT initiative. Safety Conscious Planning is a planning process model that considers multimodal, comprehensive safety issues at all phases of MPO processes. It includes data analysis, interdisciplinary professional perspectives, and public input. The NJTPA study had three elements: a data-driven, collaborative assessment of priority multimodal safety needs throughout the region; recommended applications of engineering, enforcement, and educational countermeasures; and development of project concepts for advancement through the MPO planning process. Active, meaningful interagency and public input was integral in all these steps. The Development of Regional Safety Priorities study does not represent a one-time effort, but is a first step toward improving how considerations of safety are integrated throughout development of transportation plans, programs, and projects. Since the study's conclusion in spring 2005, recommended improvements at three locations developed through this effort have been funded for construction, and several more are under consideration for funding in the near future.

Vehicle Miles Traveled in Multivehicle Households

Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is an important factor in the development of transportation plans, emission mitigation measures, and energy conservation policies. Therefore, estimation of VMT is a crucial task supporting such plans and policies. This research addresses the estimation of VMT in households owning multiple vehicles. This sector is expected to use vehicles differently from single-vehicle households because usage of any vehicle may depend on usage of other vehicles. Previous studies concluded that there is a substitution effect between usages of two vehicles (i.e., greater usage of one vehicle lessens usage of the other). In view of more recent changes in sociodemographic structure, the problem was revisited with the 2001 National Household Travel Survey database. The proposed VMT model is a system of simultaneous equations. Each equation explains the VMT for one of the household's vehicles. The three-stage least-squares method was used to estimate the coefficients. A case study of two-vehicle ho...

Vehicle Miles Traveled in Multivehicle Households

Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is an important factor in the development of transportation plans, emission mitigation measures, and energy conservation policies. Therefore, estimation of VMT is a crucial task supporting such plans and policies. This research addresses the estimation of VMT in households owning multiple vehicles. This sector is expected to use vehicles differently from single-vehicle households because usage of any vehicle may depend on usage of other vehicles. Previous studies concluded that there is a substitution effect between usages of two vehicles (i.e., greater usage of one vehicle lessens usage of the other). In view of more recent changes in sociodemographic structure, the problem was revisited with the 2001 National Household Travel Survey database. The proposed VMT model is a system of simultaneous equations. Each equation explains the VMT for one of the household's vehicles. The three-stage least-squares method was used to estimate the coefficients. A case study of two-vehicle households was investigated. The resulting model shows that VMT can be explained by variables such as the vehicle's newness, number of potential car users in a household, and household income. Surprisingly, the results show not a substitution effect but a spilling effect. The VMT of the first vehicle does not depend on how much the second vehicle is driven. However, increased use of the first vehicle tends to spill over and increase the use of the second one. Some explanation of this behavior shift is provided.

Coming in the 1990s: The agency-friendly travel survey

Area wide travel surveys formed the backbone of transportation analysis and methodology in the initial development of transportation plans during the 1960s and early 70s, particularly in the United States. These general purpose surveys were extremely valuable as key elements of travel descriptions, new systems analysis, and plan development. Unfortunately, they were also very expensive, were often large and unwieldy, took many years to process, and produced less than manageable data sets which were often under-utilized; in short, decidedly agency-unfriendly. Squeezed by goals of shorter time frame, budget constraints, survey timing, limited analysis and single purpose usage, transportation agencies evolved during the 1970s and 80s a generally “kinder, gentler” survey methodology, focusing primarily on meeting immediate agency objectives with minimum hassle. In the 1970s, modal and group surveys were most common, and in the 1980s project surveys were the norm. The“agency-friendly travel survey” of the 1990s is described in this paper in terms of its general characteristics, its target population, cost, effectiveness, and timeliness.