The presentation of an activity-based approach for surveying and modelling travel behaviour

Abstract

The presentation of an activity-based approach for surveying and modelling travel behaviour. In order to better guide and substantiate the decisions of transportation planners, the use of traffic and transportation models has been advocated by governments and by research communities. Activity-travel microsimulation systems provide a means of forecasting the impacts of a given policy at the aggregate and disaggregate level, so that detailed analysis of model results can be performed in ways that are generally infeasible with the conventional four-stage approach. The aim of this paper is to announce an important potential contribution to this line of research by the presentation of a comprehensive and extensive research program. The research program contains four main workpackages: i.e. data collection, model calibration, followed by transition and valorization programs. The research program has been reviewed by several external referees and was found to be innovative due to the development of an activity-based transportation model including short-term rescheduling decisions and (long-term) learning components. The innovative datacollection procedure has been acknowledged as well. In terms of broader contributions for society, the reviewers appreciated the valorisation workpackage and opportunities for additional follow-up activities.