Developing travel behaviour models, and transportation and emissions simulation tools for a small Canadian municipality

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Smaller, rural and newly incorporated municipalities experiences challenges to offer low-cost, accessible and sustainable travel options to their residents, which is largely due to the unavailability of data and models to make evidence-based policies and infrastructure investment decisions. The goal of this project is to collect data and develop innovative econometric models and simulation tools to understand the travel behaviour of rural residents and quantify vehicular emissions for alternative transportation and land use scenarios. This project will develop models and case studies for the City of West Kelowna (CoWK). The specific objectives will be to: 1) investigate travel activities including examining the travel of rural population in-general such as where and how they travel, and the travel analysis of crucial age-cohorts such as younger and older adults, 2) explore demand for alternative modes including demand for transit for the pre-, during-, and post-pandemic periods, and demand for walking/biking, and 3) analyze the transport level of service and emissions impacts of a major revitalization plan at the urban core which includes the assessing the impacts of neighbourhood-level changes such as mixed land use developments, and corridor-level changes such as adding bike lanes and transit stops. The CoWK will use these results to develop alternative land use and transport investment plans such as identifying areas requiring walk/bike and transit infrastructure to ensure equitable access to alternative modes for all age cohorts and reduce their carbon footprint.