Title

A Bridge between Travel Demand Modeling and Activity-Based Travel Analysis

Time

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m

Location

1065 Kemper Hall, UC Davis

Abstract

Proponents of activity-based approaches to analyzing travel behavior have argued that the conceptual clarity, theoretical consistency, and purported unmatched potential for policy application of such approaches have the potential to lead to substantially greater understanding and better prediction of travel behavior. Despite their obvious theoretical attractiveness, activity-based approaches have suffered from the absence of an analytical framework that unifies the complex interactions among the resource allocation decisions made by households in conducting their daily affairs outside the home, while preserving the utility-maximizing principles presumed to guide such decisions. The focus of this talk is on the demonstration that some rather well-known network-based formulations in operations research, that have heretofore largely gone unnoticed in activity-based travel research, offer a potentially powerful technique for advancing the general development of the activity-based modeling approach. We present a mathematical programming formulation and use it to identify the similarities and differences between traditional trip-based modeling methodologies and those pertaining to an activity-based approach. We will present a number of examples of application of the formulation to address transportation-related policy issues.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Recker is currently Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Irvine. He was educated at the Carnegie Institute of Technology of Carnegie-Mellon University where he was awarded the Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering. Dr. Recker served as Director of the UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies for twenty-three years. He has authored over one hundred and fifty research articles that have appeared as archival journal publications and conference proceedings, and has served as principal investigator on many research projects in travel demand modeling and transportation systems engineering. Since assuming his current position at the University of California, he has served as Principal Investigator on over fifty extramural research grants and contracts in transportation totaling over $30 million.

The major portion of his research has focused on travel demand models, disaggregate modeling methodologies and transportation systems analysis. He has been instrumental in the development of activity-based travel behavior approaches, and in the application of advanced technology to the management of traffic systems.

Dr. Recker is currently Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Irvine.  He was educated at the Carnegie Institute of Technology of Carnegie-Mellon University where he was awarded the Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering. Dr. Recker served as Director of the UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies for twenty-three years. He has authored over one hundred and fifty research articles that have appeared as archival journal publications and conference proceedings, and has served as principal investigator on many research projects in travel demand modeling and transportation systems engineering.  Since assuming his current position at the University of California, he has served as Principal Investigator on over fifty extramural research grants and contracts in transportation totaling over $30 million.
The major portion of his research has focused on travel demand models, disaggregate modeling methodologies and transportation systems analysis.  He has been instrumental in the development of activity-based travel behavior approaches, and in the application of advanced technology to the management of traffic systems.