Evolutionary Transportation Planning Model: Structure and Application

An evolutionary transportation planning model wherein the demand in a given year depends on the demand of the previous year is described. The model redistributes a fraction of the work trips each year associated with the relocation of a household or taking a new job, whereas changes in distribution associated with growth (or decline) are considered. This hybrid-evolutionary model is compared with an equilibrium model, wherein supply and demand are solved simultaneously. The reasons for preferring the evolutionary method to the equilibrium approach are several: (a) the ability to more easily use observed data and thereby limit modeling to changes in behavior, (b) additional realism in the concept of the model, (c) the provision of a framework for extension to integration with land use models, and (d) the additional information available to policy makers.