TRANSPORT MODELING WITH A PURPOSE: HOW URBAN SYSTEMS DESIGN CAN BRIDGE THE GAPS BETWEEN MODELING, PLANNING, AND DESIGN

Abstract

A new age of mobility is upon us, and the way we analyze our transportation network and future development projects must move into this new age. Large-scale changes to our transportation system are coming with the introduction of disruptive technologies and services like autonomous vehicles, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxis, and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platforms. Transportation modeling has long been used as a tool to measure the impact, positively or negatively, of a proposed network change or new land development. Transportation modeling has become more complex as it has shifted from the traditional four-step model, but it is still used in new development traffic impact studies, activity-based models, and most recently, agent-based models like those of MATSim. This increased complexity has made way for more comprehensive measures of effectiveness that can be useful in planning and design. However, there tends to be a gap between design occurring, tool utilization, and actual implementation of new technologies and big data effectively into these proven modeling and simulation platforms. Among five specific issues in travel forecasting, modeling is used as a reactive tool instead of a proactive tool with the purpose of influencing design and planning.