Modelling drivers' car parking behaviour using data from a travel choice simulator

This paper reports on models developed from data collected using the PARKIT parking choice simulator. PARKIT provided an experimental environment in which drivers’ choice of car parks, and of the routes chosen to reach them, could be observed and the influence of different levels of parking-stock knowledge (derived from experience or from information provided via roadside message signs) monitored. Separate models were estimated for the drivers’ initial choice of car park and for their revision of that choice as their journey progresses and they learn about actual conditions. The importance of price, walking time and driving distance is confirmed but the addition of variables describing the drivers’ choices on previous days, their expectations and their immediately preceding route-choice, greatly improved the models’ explanatory power. It is noted that variables such as these are not generally considered because they are rarely available to the modeller. Different discrete choice model structures were found to be appropriate for different decisions. Route choice was represented as an exit-choice model (whereby each journey is treated as a sequence of decisions – one at each intersection encountered). The paper discusses the incorporation of these choice models into a network assignment model and concludes that much of the power of the choice models is lost if the network model is not able to support use of information about travellers’ socio-economic characteristics and knowledge of the network and about the detailed network topology

Travel Demand Growth: Research on Longer-Term Issues. The Potential Contribution of Trip Planning Systems

INTRODUCTION 1.1 The growth in demand for travel Over the 20 years hm 1965, National Travel Survey (NTS) data shows a 61% growth in total person - km of travel. More detailed analysis suggests that this is made up roughly as follows:- due to increased population 4% due to more journeys 22% due to longer journeys 35% This implies that around 60% of the growth in travel has been due to people travelling further, rather than making more journeys. It is interesting to note, too, that the same phenomenon occurs even in the most congested areas. Between 1975 and 1985, NTS shows an 11% growth in person -km by London residents, at a time when population fell by 5%. In this case, the growth is made up roughly as follows:- due to lost population -5% due to more journeys 4% due to longer journeys 12% It is of course difficult to estimate the extent to which future growth in travel will be generated by longer journeys. The NRTF, which predicts a growth in car-km of between 120% and 180% between 1985 and 2025, is not based on a procedure which enables the effects of journey making and journey length to be separated. However, it is worth noting that if the same pattern were to exist at a national level in future, the predicted growth in car travel due to longer journeys could be equivalent to between 75% and 100% of today's car travel. It seems appropriate to ask whether it is a wise use of scarce resources to provide the infrastructure and energy needed to enable people to carry out their activities further from home. (Continues...

The Evaluation of Route Guidance Systems

BACKGROUND We were commissioned by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory to: "collaborate with the German government and their representatives who are responsible for conducting the LISB trial in Berlin in order to produce an agreed methodology, which is acceptable in both Germany and the UK, for assessing the automatic route guidance systems which will be provided in Berlin and London." The brief suggested a number of aspects to be included, and required detailed proposals, timescales and costs for implementation in London. 1.1.2 The background to the brief lies in decisions to introduce pilot automatic route guidance systems in the two cities. The principles of the systems are similar, and have been described in detail elsewhere (Jeffery, 1987). In brief, they involve : (i) a central computer which retains information on a specified road network, which is updated using real time information from the equipment users; (ii) infra red beacons at selected junctions which transmit information to equipped vehicles and receive information from those vehicles; (iii) in-vehicle equipment which includes a dead-reckoning system for position finding, a device for requesting guidance and specifying the destination, a micro-computer which selects the optimal route, and a display which indicates when a turn is required on the main network, and the compass direction and distance to the final destination; iv) transmission from the equipped vehicles of origin, requested destination, links used since passing the last beacon and, for each link, the time of entry and departure and time spent delayed. It is this travel time information which is used to update the central computer's knowledge of the best routes. (Continues..

A Review of Drivers' Requirements for Guidance and Information in CLEOPATRA Cities.

The contents of this working paper were submitted in modified format as the End Users’ Requirements section of Deliverable 1, Work Package 3, of the European Commission DG X111 C Telematics for Transport project CLEOPATRA (City Laboratories Enabling Organisation of Particularly Advanced Telematics Research and Assessment), project no. TR 1012, June 1996. Various studies on drivers' requirements for guidance and information have been carried out in both Europe and the USA. An executive summary of these requirements is provided in the following sub-section. The full details of research previously conducted is given in section 2, where the main findings from a selection of studies are summarised. The subsequent section 3 on Drivers’ Requirements in CLEOPATRA Cities, gives city specific requirements where previous work has been undertaken to assess these as part of work for other European projects. Finally the conclusions on Drivers’ Requirements are summarised in section 4 and research references listed in section 5

Apollo experience report: Development of guidance targeting techniques for the command module and launch vehicle

The development of the guidance targeting techniques for the Apollo command module and launch vehicle is discussed for four types of maneuvers: (1) translunar injection, (2) translunar midcourse, (3) lunar orbit insertion, and (4) return to earth. The development of real-time targeting programs for these maneuvers and the targeting procedures represented are discussed. The material is intended to convey historically the development of the targeting techniques required to meet the defined target objectives and to illustrate the solutions to problems encountered during that development

Analysing parking search (‘cruising’) time using generalised multilevel structural equation modelling

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the URI link.The aim of this paper is to identify factors influencing parking search (cruising) time. A revealed-preference on-street parking survey was undertaken with individual drivers in four UK cities to investigate the influence of personal, trip, socio-economic, physical, time49 related, and price-related variables on parking search. In order to address the potential endogeneity problems between the factors (e.g. parking fee and parking search time) and hierarchical issues in the survey data, a generalised multilevel structural equation model was applied. It was revealed that cruising time could be reduced by seeking drivers to pay for parking as a way of improving social welfare

Automated Transit Networks (ATN): A Review of the State of the Industry and Prospects for the Future, MTI Report 12-31

The concept of Automated Transit Networks (ATN) - in which fully automated vehicles on exclusive, grade-separated guideways provide on-demand, primarily non-stop, origin-to-destination service over an area network – has been around since the 1950s. However, only a few systems are in current operation around the world. ATN does not appear “on the radar” of urban planners, transit professionals, or policy makers when it comes to designing solutions for current transit problems in urban areas. This study explains ATN technology, setting it in the larger context of Automated Guideway Transit (AGT); looks at the current status of ATN suppliers, the status of the ATN industry, and the prospects of a U.S.-based ATN industry; summarizes and organizes proceedings from the seven Podcar City conferences that have been held since 2006; documents the U.S./Sweden Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Transport; discusses how ATN could expand the coverage of existing transit systems; explains the opportunities and challenges in planning and funding ATN systems and approaches for procuring ATN systems; and concludes with a summary of the existing challenges and opportunities for ATN technology. The study is intended to be an informative tool for planners, urban designers, and those involved in public policy, especially for urban transit, to provide a reference for history and background on ATN, and to use for policy development and research