Research Highlights

Exploring Data Fusion Techniques to Estimate Network-Wide Bicycle Volumes

Sirisha Kothuri
Joe Broach , Nathan McNeil , Kate Hyun , Stephen Mattingly
In order to make sure bicyclists' needs are considered when improving a transportation system, planners and engineers need to know how many people are biking, and where. Traditional bicycle counters can provide data for limited sections of the bike network, often these counters are installed at important locations like trails or bridges. While limited in location, they count everyone who bikes by. Meanwhile, GPS & mobile data cover the entire transportation network, but that data only rep... Read More

Key Enhancements to the WFRC/MAG Four-Step Travel Demand Model

Reid Ewing
Shima Hamidi
Conventional four-step travel demand modeling is overdue for a major update. The latest NITC report from the University of Utah offers planners better predictive accuracy through an improved model, allowing for much greater sensitivity to new variables that affect travel behavior. Specifically, it accounts for varying rates of vehicle ownership, intrazonal travel, and multimodal mode choices. Used by nearly all metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), state departments of transportation... Read More