Synthesis of Traveler Choice Research: Improving Modeling Accuracy for Better Transportation Decisionmaking

2013PDFTech Reporthttp://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/operations/13022/13022.pdfFHWA-HRT-13-022DTFH61-06-D-00005Route choiceDecision makingTravel demand managementIntegrated corridor managementTravel demandTravel behaviorUnited StatesUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of OperationsMahmassani, Hani S.Koppelman, Frank S.Haas, RobertFrei, CharlotteFrei, AndreasNorthwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Transportation CenterScience Applications International CorporationUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of OperationsFederal Highway AdministrationOver the last 50 years, advances in the fields of travel behavior research and travel demand forecasting have been immense, driven by the increasing costs of infrastructure and spatial limitations in areas of high population density together with externalities in these areas. The field has changed from supply-oriented planning to incorporating and managing demand. As such, methods from a variety of disciplines have been borrowed and extended to explain human behavior and interaction. Many experts have called for better data collection and methods of analysis across a number of time horizons, that is, integrated supply and demand models that capture travel behavior over time and space. A new paradigm may be called for to address the present challenges of model integration; user preferences, heterogeneity, and endogeneity; habitual behavior; and human socializing. This report provides a synthesis of the state of knowledge in travel behavior research and identifies gaps in existing data, methods, and practices that must be filled to meet the analysis needs of an emerging class of supply- and demand-side interventions that seek to leverage the opportunities of real-time information.82