A planning model for intermodal auto-rail transportation assignment

This thesis presents a planning model for assigning trips in a corridor served by highways and commuter rail. The underlying assumption is that commuters will choose a mode (or a combination of modes) connecting the origin and destination in a way that will either minimize their individual travel times and costs (the user equilibrium principle) or minimize total system travel time and cost (system optimal principle). The model is structured as a mathematical program with a non-linear objective function and linear constraints. The model was applied to a case study of the Raritan Valley Corridor located in Northern New Jersey. The corridor primarily serves commuters from the western part of New Jersey who are destined to Newark. Potential benefits of introducing an Advanced Traveler Information Service (ATIS) for shifting commuters form auto to rail under various management strategies and levels of congestion are also discussed. The results showed that there was total system travel time savings when auto commuters were shifted to rail. In addition, it was found that as congestion increased the mode assignments made under different management strategies became more alike