FDOT Transit Office Modeling Initiatives The Transit Office

FDOT Transit Office Modeling Initiatives The Transit Office has undertaken a number of initiatives in collaboration with the Systems Planning Office and the Model Task Force to improve transit modeling in Florida, including: § § An Assessment of Transit Modeling in Florida FSUTMS Mode Choice Modeling: Factors Affecting Transit Use and Access § Development of a Regional Transit Feasibility Analysis and Simulation Tool (RTFAST) § Development of the Transit Level of Service Software

FDOT Transit Office Modeling Initiatives § Development of the Integrated Transit Demand Supply Model (ITSUP/T-BEST) § Development of the Florida Activity Mobility Simulator (FAMOS) § Development of the Florida Transit Information System (FTIS) § Study on “Issues and Implications of the FTA User Benefits Requirements for Florida’s New Starts Initiatives

An Assessment of Transit Modeling in Florida n 1996 Study identified the need for improvement to FSUTMS Transit Modeling n Surveyed MPOs and Transit Agencies on Transit modeling Issues n Recommended Short, medium and long term transit modeling improvements n Recommended among other things the “investigation” of alternative modeling packages such as TRANSCAD and EMME/2

Some Recommendations from the Transit Modeling Assessment Study § Collect Detailed Travel Behavior Data to Enhance Transit Models § Develop transit models for special Market Segments § Integrate Transportation and land use models to capture the two cyclical relationship between transportation and land use § Develop time-of-day models of transit demand

Some Recommendations from the Transit Modeling Assessment Study § Develop an integrated transit demand supply model § Develop statistical models of trip generation and trip chaining § Improve Transit Network coding procedures § Develop activity-based travel modeling Tools

FSUTMS Mode Choice Modeling: Factors Affecting Transit Use and Access n n Study investigated variables other than time and cost that can be incorporated into FSUTMS mode choice models Used on-board survey data from the 2000 Southeast Florida Travel Characteristics survey Developed a regression model to examine the effects of land use, demographic, socioeconomic and transit supply characteristics on transit use Developed a GIS methodology for estimating transit walk accessibility that overcomes the problems associated with barriers and uneven distribution of population

Key Findings from the FSUTMS Mode Choice Study n n Transit supply factors such as headway, the number of daily bus runs, and regional transit accessibility were better predictors of transit use than demand factors such as density and land use mix By using the GIS methodology developed in this study, more realistic estimates of transit walk accessibility can be obtained n Transit use deteriorated exponentially with walking distance to transit stops n Mode share estimation can be improved through better estimation of transit walk and auto accessibility

Regional Transit Feasibility Analysis and Simulation Tool (RTFAST) n n A regional transit planning tool capable of identifying feasible regional transit corridors Can be used to analyze a wide range of regional transit scenarios Analyzes origin-destination travel patterns by purpose, mode, distance, and travel time Estimates regional transit route ridership given socioeconomic and transit service conditions

Transit Level of Service (TLOS) Software n The Transit Level of Service software measures Transit availability by route, corridor or neighborhood n Transit mobility by address or transit stop n Labels and phone numbers by service or new service area n Cost comparison worksheet for changes in service, ped access n Stop level ridership predictive model

Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool (T-BEST) n n Provides a powerful framework for modeling transit ridership at the stop level Incorporates effects of accessibility and connectivity on ridership Sophisticated accessibility and impedance computations More precisely accommodates effects of service span and frequency (temporal aspects)

Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool (T-BEST) n n Model estimates number of boardings at stop by route direction and time period Model estimates two types of boardings: direct boardings and transfer boardings Will interface with both Arc. GIS and Trans. CAD Focus on ease of use and quick response capability

The Florida Activity Mobility Simulator (FAMOS) An activity-based microsimulation model system n Simulates activity travel patterns at the level of the individual traveler n Utilizes zonal socio-economic, network and household travel data sets n Model structure includes a Household Attributes Generation System (HAGS) n Produces activity travel records for each person using a Prism Constrained Activity Travel Simulator n

The Florida Activity Mobility Simulator (FAMOS) Accounts for the inter-dependency of trips due to trip chaining n n n Outputs O-D matrices by trip purpose and time of day Designed to operate as a stand-alone or interface with FSUTMS Current version estimated and calibrated using the 2000 South-east Florida household travel survey data FAMOS is currently in final testing and will be released by the end of April 2004

The Florida Transit Information System (FTIS) Integrated National Transit Database Analysis System Florida Transit Geographic Information System Transit Asset Management System Florida Transit Planning Library Florida Transit Planning Web Links User’s Guide and Online Help Report Problems Email Contact

FDOT User Benefits Analysis Study n Provide a general history and background of the technical requirements for application under the FTA New Starts Process. n Explain the concepts, criteria and measures used in the User Benefits analysis n Provide guidance on how to meet the requirements of the rule using the FSUTMS model package n Develop recommendations for a short-term strategy for implementation of User Benefits analysis within FSUTMS n Establish a framework to help the competitive stance of

Some Findings from the FDOT User Benefit Analysis Study n User benefit analysis presents challenges and opportunities n Florida Models need to be more compatible with SUMMIT n The SUMMIT requirement that the same trip tables be used for both baseline and build alternatives presents problems for models designed to use different trip tables for different alternatives

Some Findings from the FDOT User Benefit Analysis Study n n Including benefit to existing users while beneficial to areas with established transit systems may disadvantage emerging transit areas Definition of the baseline alternative continues to be a problem

Conclusions Much work has been done at both the state and local levels to improve transit modeling in Florida n n Much more still needs to be done because we are not yet where we want to be n Attracting Federal funding to Florida for new starts requires technically robust models that meet FTA requirements n We have various pieces of the puzzle but they need to be brought together in more reliable models n The adoption of Trans. CAD with its powerful GIS capabilities is a step in the right direction