Bring the form back to planning: Using urban form characteristics to improve the predictability of transportation mode choice models
Abstract
The financial and environmental effects of traffic congestion and automobile-centric air pollution
continue to be problems that must be addressed within the United States. In response, travel
demand management (TDM) has emerged as a potential way to reduce automobile-based travel
in order to minimize these effects. TDM strategies are highly dependent on specific urban form
characteristics such as bicycle lanes, sidewalks, or transit facilities. A current gap exists in the
analytical tools available to transportation planners when evaluating TDM projects. The standard
transportation models do not take into account urban form characteristics in a systematic way.
These characteristics play an import role in an individualâ s selection of walking, bicycling, or
transit based travel modes. This gap needs to be filled in order to evaluate TDM projects with
the same decision-making rigor that is applied to road expansion projects.
The purpose of this project is to develop an enhanced transportation mode choice model that
presents a systematic approach for incorporating urban form characteristics. This approach
determines which elements of urban form have the strongest influence on transportation mode
choice behavior. This work is being done in conjunction with the Roanoke Valley Allegany
Metropolitan Planning Organization as a way to evaluate the potential of TDM projects in
promoting non-automobile forms of travel within the Roanoke region. This approach to
developing an enhanced transportation mode choice model is a step forward in address the gap
between TDM strategies and the tools needed to evaluate them.
Collections
- Masters Theses [19687]