TMIPConnection
Issue 1, August 1994
The Travel Model Improvement Program Newsletter
The Travel Model Improvement Program is sponsored by:
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Transit Administration
Table of Contents
TMIP Introduction
For several years transportation planners have been struggling to meet the planning and air quality requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAA) and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) using current travel demand models and analysis techniques. These Acts, however, require more information and greater detail than existing models and planning methods were designed to produce. Today planners need to be able to evaluate the impacts that transportation control measures, alternative land use patterns, roadway pricing policies, congestion and the implementation of alternative travel modes have on the transportation system and the demand for travel. As if that is not enough, planners must also be able to evaluate the air quality and other environmental impacts of each transportation project and program both separately and collectively.
Although the demands have been significant and many areas have been faced with legal action as they try to meet the new requirements, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Work is currently underway to identify the planning and environmental issues that must be addressed by practitioners and to develop new travel and land use models and improved data collection and analysis techniques that will meet today's needs. These efforts have culminated with the initiation of the Travel Model Improvement Program (TMIP). The TMIP is designed to implement enhancements to the current travel demand models and to develop new modeling procedures that accurately and reliably forecast travel for a broad range of modes, policy actions and operational conditions. The program, however, goes beyond developing new forecasting procedures. It consists of four tracks established to assure that practitioners have access to and understanding of the best transportation planning methods available.
The Scope of TMIP
Track A – Outreach
Efforts in Track A are designed to assist transportation planners with implementing planning procedures consistent with the currently desirable practice. This track will design a program of training and technical assistance to provide MPOs and state DOTs with the tools needed to meet the requirements of ISTEA and CAA using the planning and forecasting techniques currently available. It will also provide a continuing program of training and technical assistance to support MPOs and state DOTs in implementing the results from Tracks B, C and D.
Track B – Near Term Improvements
Work in this track involves technical activities that will help MPOs and state DOTs elevate current planning and forecasting practice to the state-of-the-art. This effort will implement model improvements and land use and air quality planning techniques that have already been developed but are not widely used. Work in this program has been initiated and will be available to MPOs and state DOTs through the continuing training and technical assistance provided in Track A.
Track C – Longer Term Improvements
This track involves major research to redesign travel and land use forecasting procedures to respond to the greater information needs required by ISTEA and CAA. Fundamentally new approaches to travel demand forecasting will be developed in this track. The issues and questions raised by the requirements of ISTEA and CAA and the capability of the models to provide the information to address them will be determined. The goal of the work in this track is to advance the state-of-the-art of travel and land use modeling to meet current needs.
Track D – Data Collection
Efforts in this track will be directed toward improving data collection procedures to meet decision makers current and future needs. Work in this track will also support the other three tracks. Current data requirements and collection activities will be reviewed and recommended strategies and priorities for data collection using currently desirable practice will be developed; data requirements for implementing existing model improvements will be identified and guidance on data collection procedures prepared; and, data to support development of the new modeling process will be collected.
Program Organization
Who is responsible for this national effort to achieve planning perfection? Like most large research efforts, the work of numerous agencies and individuals is required. The TMIP is sponsored by U.S. Department of Transportation including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Office of the Secretary; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the U.S. Department of Energy. Direct program oversight is being handled by the Federal Highway Administration. Texas Transportation Institute, under contract to the Federal Highway Administration, is responsible for overall program support. Individual work tasks outlined in the four program Tracks will be performed by contractors such as consultants, university research organizations and other agencies involved in transportation, environmental and land use planning.
A Review Panel whose members include nationally recognized professionals experienced in transportation planning, land development and environmental protection has been established. The TMIP Review Panel is to provide guidance on the design and implementation of the program.
MPOs and state DOTs will play an integral part in the Model Improvement Program. The concerns, needs and ideas offered by these groups will provide guidance on the design of the training, technical assistance, and research and are vital to completion of the project.
How Do I Become Involved?
This newsletter is the first of a continuing series that is part of the outreach efforts to keep practitioners abreast of the current activities and findings of the TMIP project. During the upcoming fiscal year, MPOs and state DOTs will be contacted and provided opportunities to identify their needs for improved travel models. Of course, you do not have to wait to be contacted to provide input into the program. Suggestions and ideas on current issues and needs may be sent at anytime to:
Dr. Gordon Shunk
Texas Transportation Institute
201 E. Abram Street, Suite 600
Arlington, Texas 76010
Key TMIP Players
U.S. DOT
FHWA - Fred Ducca
FTA - Ron Fisher
Office of the Secretary - Edward Weiner
U.S. EPA
Jon Kessler
U.S. DOE
Lew Fulton
Texas Transportation Institute
Gordon Shunk
Kimberly Fisher
TMIP Review Panel Members
Martin Wachs, Chairman, UCLA
Anne Geraghty - California Air Resources Board
Robert Harvey - Seattle METRO
Michael Morris - North Central Texas Council of Governments
H. Pike Oliver - INTERRA
John Poorman - Capital Region Council of Governments
Michael Replogle - Environmental Defense Fund
G. Scott Rutherford - University of Washington
Neil Pedersen - Maryland DOT
Mary Lynn Tischer - Virginia DOT
Kimberly Fisher
Past Activities
Laying the Foundation
Three national conferences have provided guidance from transportation, land use and environmental professionals on the issues to be addressed in the TMIP research.
Transportation, Urban Form and the Environment, a conference held in December 1990, focused on the interactions between land use and transportation characteristics and between economic and demographic characteristics and land use. Research issues recommended at that conference included the impacts of energy costs, air quality and new technologies on development; transportation needs of travel by commuters, suburbanites and the elderly; alternative methods to serve future travel needs; innovative techniques to maximize the efficiency of travel; the impacts of tax, land development, and travel demand management policies on the transportation system; and the impacts of transportation improvements on economic development, the environment, and social objectives. (This conference was sponsored by the Transportation Research Board. Proceedings were published in 1991 as Transportation, Urban Form, and the Environment, Transportation Research Board Special Report 231.)
A conference on The Effects of Added Transportation Capacity was held in December 1991. That conference addressed the question of whether transportation improvements which add traffic capacity induce travel. Issues emphasized include the impact of added capacity on emissions; the impact of capacity improvements on development; the role that growth management policies play in the interaction of added capacity and development; the secondary effects of new development on traffic and air quality; what types of added capacity projects might result in induced travel; and, how estimates of induced travel can be obtained through the forecasting process. (This conference was sponsored by FHWA. Proceedings were published in 1993 as The Effects of Added Transportation Capacity, U.S. Department of Transportation, DOT-T-94-12.)
Research needs relative to the TMIP were also the subject of the most recent conference, Multimodal Transportation Planning Research Needs, held in November 1993. Discussions at that conference focused on research needed to fulfill the multimodal transportation planning requirements of ISTEA. Issues such as development of model improvements to accurately and reliably forecast travel for a wide range of modes and to forecast trips using several modes were outlined. (This conference was sponsored by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Proceedings are not currently available.)
Current TMIP Activities
TRANSIMS
The TRANSIMS project is a major project currently underway in Track C of the TMIP and the largest project in the program. TRANSIMS is a series of simulation and other related models being developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. TRANSIMS is the first attempt at an entirely new model designed to meet the demands on travel forecasting models today. The principal components of the TRANSIMS model are an activity generator, an intermodal route planner, a traffic microsimulation and an environmental analysis. These models estimate the operating conditions of motor vehicles, the air polluting emissions under those conditions, and the atmospheric effects of those emissions. The products expected from the TRANSIMS models appear to be the best information yet available for analyzing the air quality effects of transportation improvements.
Cambridge Systematics
Cambridge Systematics Inc. is under contract to U.S. DOT to conduct work under Track B, Near Term Improvements, of TMIP. A program design for Track B which identifies the primary model improvements to be addressed, their priority, and a schedule and approach for performing the work will be the first task accomplished. Improvements to the current modeling process that have not been tried or evaluated and their application will be described and evaluated. A guidance document which describes the state-of-the-art in models and suggests areas for advancement, and which provides approach for implementing improvements to local agency travel demand models will be prepared.
Fort Worth Conference
The first major conference sponsored by the Travel Model Improvement Program will convene in Fort Worth August 14-17. The purposed of this conference is to identify needs of users of travel models and research or other actions to address those needs. The conference will consist of presentations on work currently underway in the Program, improvements to existing models in Track B and new model development (TRANSIMS) in Track C. Following those presentation will be several workshops in which a small group of researchers and practitioners will develop detailed recommendations for research and development to meet those needs. A final series of workshops will address the methods for disseminating the findings of the Program. This information will provide guidance to the sponsors in development of the program.
Alternative Analysis Guidelines
FHWA and FTA are preparing joint guidance for the analysis of major capital investments. The chapters dealing with travel forecasting issues and requirements from the September 1990 Procedures and Technical Methods For Transit Project Planning are being reviewed, and recommendations for needed revisions are being assembled from leading planning professionals.
To subscribe to this free newsletter send an e-mail to TMIP@tamu.edu or contact Gary Thomas at (ph.) (979) 458-3263, (fax) (979) 845-6001, (mail) Gilchrist, Room 112, Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University System, 3135 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3135