01593589

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2563-08

Microsimulation models that simulate travel demand at the level of individual travelers have been gaining increasing interest among practitioners. Transportation planning agencies across the country are steadily migrating to activity-based microsimulation models, which provide considerable flexibility when testing policy scenarios. Generating a synthetic population is the first step in the application of any activity-based model system and has therefore been a topic of extensive research in the activity-based modeling arena. Several researchers have developed population synthesizers that can generate synthetic populations and can match household- and person-level constraints at a specified geographic resolution (e.g., a census block group). However, although information for some control variables may be available at the specified spatial resolution, information for other control variables may be available only at a more aggregate spatial resolution. Ignoring control variables at different levels of spatial resolution could result in the generation of a synthetic population that would not be representative of the underlying population. However, there has been limited progress in the development of synthetic population generators that are capable of accommodating control variables at multiple spatial resolutions. This paper proposes a robust approach to control for constraints at multiple geographic resolutions when generating a synthetic population. The method is an extension of the iterative proportional updating algorithm previously proposed and implemented by the authors. A case study demonstrating the efficacy of the enhanced algorithm is presented.

01595160

16-6639

English

pp 40–50

2016

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309441223

Print

References (26) ; Tables (6)

Algorithms; Methodology; Microsimulation

Activity based modeling; Synthetic populations

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 6:53PM

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• Choice Set Formation Behavior: Joint Mode and Route Choice Selection Model
• Comprehensive Review of Travel Behavior and Mobility Pattern Studies That Used Mobile Phone Data
• Computation of Skims for Large-Scale Implementations of Integrated Activity-Based and Dynamic Traffic Assignment Models
• Deriving Truck Route Choice from Large GPS Data Streams
• Design, Development, and Implementation of a University Travel Demand Modeling Framework
• Developing Florida Statewide Multimodal Mobility Performance Measures
• Evaluating Long-Range Regional Safety with Scenario Planning Analysis
• Evaluation of Methods for Estimation of Intrazonal Travel Impedances
• Exploring Model and Behavior Uncertainty: Temporal Transferability Assessment of Vehicle Ownership Models for Boston, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Area
• Implementation of a Practical Model System to Predict Long-Distance Travel for the Entire U.S. Population
• Modified Betweenness-Based Measure for Prediction of Traffic Flow on Urban Roads
• Understanding the Potential of Variable Tolling to Smooth Congestion on Downstream Facilities: Applications of a Joint Time-of-Day and Route Choice Model
• Unifying Long- and Short-Distance Personal Travel in a Statewide Planning Model
• Who Uses Freeways and Who Pays for Them? Model-Based Analysis of Distribution Effects of Toll Tariff Systems in Germany