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NEXTRANS Seminar Series
Past Presentations
Thursday, June 5, 2008, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Hitchcock Hall Room 426, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Professor Yoram Shiftan,
Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
Title: The Use of Activity-Based Modeling to Analyze the Effect of
Land-Use and Public Transport Policies on Travel Behavior
Abstract: Land-use policies are often suggested as a means to mitigate transportation problems, and
some regions have tried to implement such policies as transit-oriented developments, mixed
land use, different concentrations schemes, various forms of urban design, and more broadly
Smart Growth. These policies are motivated by the assumption, also supported by numerous
studies that residents of neighborhoods with a higher level of density, mixed land-use, transit
access, and pedestrian friendliness drive less than do residents of neighborhoods with lower
levels of these characteristics.
However, our understanding of the effects of the various land-use policies on travel behavior
is limited. There are also questions of self-selectivity: do land-use policies affect travel
behavior or do people with different travel-behavior preferences select different types of
neighborhood in which to live. Advances in the study of travel behavior have led to the
development of activity-based models that treat travel as a derivation of the demand for
personal activities. Travel choices, therefore, become part of a broader activity-scheduling
process based on modeling the demand for activities rather than merely trips. The explicit
modeling of activities and the consequent tours and trips enable a more credible analysis of
responses to policies and their effect on traffic and air quality. Several studies have already
used this approach to analyze various transport policies including various auto restrain and
transit policies. The theoretical framework of activity-based models starts with urban and
land-use development as inputs; however, there is a need to translate this framework to
analyze specific land-use policies.
This paper discusses the advantages and potential of activity-based models for analyzing the
effect of land-use policies on travel behavior. It starts with showing the use of activity-based
models for transit and auto-restrain policies and then suggests improvements that will extend
the general framework to achieve a better understanding of travelers' responses to various land-use policies. The improved activity-based approach is illustrated through a case study
based on the Portland activity-based model combined with a stated-preference residential
choice model. A package of land-use policies – including improved land use, school quality,
safety, and transit service in the city center – is introduced, and its effect on household
redistribution and regional travel tested.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008, CIVL 1144, Purdue University Campus, West Lafayette, IN
Hani Mahmassani, William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation and Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
Title: Regime Change: Uncongesting Traffic Flow Through Dynamic Pricing and Real-Time Information
Abstract: This talk will highlight the role of pricing and real-time information in the management of transportation networks and delivery of transportation services, and discuss methodological implications and approaches for both off-line evaluations of these strategies as well as real-time operational decision-making in this context. Developments in dynamic network modeling tools will be discussed, with particular focus on new methods to evaluate the impact of congestion pricing in networks with heterogeneous users. Models of user route choice and trip timing decisions in response to pricing, information and travel time reliability are incorporated in simulation-based dynamic assignment algorithms. Strategies for anticipatory pricing in conjunction with online network state prediction tools will also be discussed.
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Tuesday, April, 1, 2008, 1:30 PM, CIVL 2123, Purdue University Campus, West Lafayette, IN
Shinya Kikuchi, Charles E. Via Jr. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech
Title: Making Decision, Judgment, and Adjustment under Unclear Circumstances in Transportation Analysis
Abstract: Transportation planning decisions take place usually in the setting of the vague multi-objective and multi-constraint environment. The objectives are usually expressed in natural language and the priorities among them are not defined clearly. Many constraints have some degree of flexibility. Decisions in this environment must be sensible to the desire of each stakeholder; and as such, the mathematical process should be faithful to the concerns of each stakeholder as much as possible. This presentation discusses the issues of uncertainty in transportation analysis first, and it is followed by a presentation of the proposed optimization scheme (fuzzy optimization) that incorporates the concerns of the stakeholders in a conversational manner. The scheme is applied to the problems of resource allocation, parameter adjustment, and the multi-objective situation problem. The outcome of the scheme is interpreted in the context of possibility measure. The presentation leads to the general discussion about how to deal with uncertainty in transportation analysis.
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