CE 3500

Transportation Engineering

Introduction to Planning and the Four-Step Model

January 12, 2011
Where should the new viaduct be?
Where should the new viaduct be?
Where should the new viaduct be?
Where should the new viaduct be?
Where should the new viaduct be?
What should we do? What factors would
affect this decision?

Politics; direct route; amount of

pedestrians (safety); cost; public support;
neighborhood traffic
Should a toll be charged on I-80?
Potential reasons for charging a toll:

Enormous amount of out-of-state traffic

Huge share of trucks damaging pavement
Limited federal funding for maintenance
Major questions?

1. Should I-80 be tolled at all? If so

2. What should be the toll?
3. Where should we charge it?

How could we answer these questions?

What information would we need?
These questions are the domain
of transportation planning

Long-term time horizon: projects may

not be built for several years; we are
interested in long-term impacts

Large spatial scope: answering planning

questions requires looking at more than
the immediate project location
What do we need to do planning?
1. Zone structure
2. Network representation
3. Data source(s)
Zones divide the study area into
smaller regions assumed to be
homogeneous demographically
and economically
Example: Chicago regional
network (1790 zones)
Is it better to have more zones or
less zones?
IT DEPENDS
IT DEPENDS on
Desired accuracy; data support; cost (collecting data, implementing
model, computer time)
The network represents the
transportation infrastructure
The network represents the
transportation infrastructure
Node Link
Chicago regional network has
~12,000 nodes and ~39,000 links
Where do we get data about how
people travel?
Where do we get data about how
people travel?

Survey data: medium-sized sample, pay people

for travel diaries

Modeling: relate travel patterns to

demographics, geography, etc.

Application: use the model to predict travel

behavior in the entire region
The four-step model is commonly
used to predict travel behavior
given zones, a network, and
socioeconomic data.
Zone structure
Network
Travel behavior
Census data
Travel diaries

Congestion Pavement
Air Quality Safety
 Four-step model
Zone structure
Network
Travel behavior
Census data
Travel diaries

Congestion Pavement
Air Quality Safety
Trip generation: What are the total number of
trips people make to and from each zone?

Trip distribution: What are the specific origins

and destinations for this total number of trips?

Mode choice: How many people will choose to

drive, walk, ride bicycles, use transit, etc.?

Route choice: What are the specific routes

people will use for their trips?
Example:
Trip generation: How many people arrive at
UW every morning?

Trip distribution: How many people are

coming to UW from each zone?

Mode choice: How many people will drive, walk,

use the shuttle, or ride bicycles?

Route choice: What roads will people choose?

(This gives information on congestion!)