Sustainable Transportation Modeling

这项研究旨在改善加拿大交通系统的规划、设计和运营。 整个加拿大和更广泛的北美政府正在考虑对公共交通系统进行重大投资，以减少拥挤;改善环境条件;为社会所有成员提供低成本的交通选择;并帮助振兴城市地区。 决策者评估交通系统可能投资的方式是使用出行预测模型。 这些模型试图预测旅行者将如何行为-什么旅行将作出和通过什么模式-如果新的交通系统建成或如果现有的系统升级。 为了使这些模型有效，它们必须准确地反映旅行者如何将过境旅行与其他方式进行比较，特别是汽车。 目前，大多数使用的模型只包括一些关于过境服务的基本信息。 这项研究将开发更好的成本模型，其中包括大多数旅行者认识和评估的交通成本-系统可靠性，舒适性，可达性等-但以前的模型没有包括在内。 这项研究还将确定模型应该如何改变，以更好地反映成本，因为旅行者习惯于乘坐交通工具或汽车旅行，并且旅行者越来越熟悉他们可用的选择。 这项研究的成果将是一套更好地评估交通系统竞争投资的模型。 这将使政府能够更好地决定应该建设或升级什么样的交通系统。 最终目标是，决策者可以利用稀缺的公共资源，不仅在交通方面实现预期的变化，而且改善加拿大城市的宜居性和经济竞争力，提高加拿大人的生活质量。

This research is intended to improve the planning, design and operations of Canada's transportation systems. Governments throughout Canada and more generally North America are considering major investments in public transportation systems as a way to reduce congestion; improve environmental conditions; provide lower cost transportation choices to all members of society; and to help revitalize urban areas. The way in which decision makers evaluate possible investments in transportation systems is with Travel Forecasting Models. These models try to predict how travelers will behave - what trips will be made and by what mode - if new transit systems are built or if existing systems are upgraded. In order for these models to be effective, they must accurately reflect how travelers compare making a trip by transit to other modes, especially the automobile. Currently, most of the models used only include some basic information about the transit service. This research will develop better cost models that include considerations of transit costs that most travelers recognize and evaluate - system reliability, comfort, accessibility and others - but previous models have not included. This research will also determine the way models should change to better reflect costs as travelers get accustomed to traveling by transit or car, and as travelers get more familiar with the options available to them. The outcomes of this research will be a set of models that are much better at evaluating competing investments in transportation systems. This will allow governments to make better decisions about what transportation systems should be built or upgraded. The end goal is that decision makers can use scarce public resources to achieve desired changes not only in transportation, but also to improve the livability and economic competitiveness of Canadian cities and the quality of life for Canadians.