Evaluation of Trip Generation in Highly Urbanized Areas

Background

Assessments of the impact that new land use development has on the transportation network often rely on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation and Parking Generation informational reports. Current ITE rates generally represent travel behavior for separated, single-use developments in low-density suburban areas. A more compact urban form, access to transit, and a greater mix of uses, however, are known to generate fewer and shorter vehicle trips (especially in heavily urbanized areas, like Washington, DC). There is both local and national interest in building data that expands upon the existing trip and parking generation rates to include sites located in a diverse, dense context.

Objective

Develop multimodal trip generation rates that better reflect the relationship between land use, transportation and travel demand for specific land use types located in heavily urbanized settings, especially in Washington, DC. This includes accounting for how the built environment influences travel behavior, and determining trip rates that reflect the entire activity spectrum of different development/place typologies. These rates must also account for the relationship between parking and trip generation, though this is not the direct focus of this project.
The first phase of this project developed a methodology for gathering the data and collected a pilot dataset for residential and mixed-use residential over retail buildings. These data were compared to existing models (ITE, EPA MXD, etc.). The basic conclusion is that existing models are not adequate and more data was needed.
A second phase collected additional data at mixed use residential over retail and calibrated two additional models with DC data - the EPA MXD+ model and the NCHRP Multi-Modal Accessibility model. 

A third phase, started 2016, and will be assessing the data we already have to see how to make is usable now, before we have a robust enough dataset to get models. 

 Expected Project Outcomes

  • Improved assessments of transportation impacts of urban-scale projects.
  • Ability to make better data-driven decisions about improvements around new urban development.
  • Data for researchers to better understand urban trip-making behavior.
Status: The phase one and two projects are complete and the final reports are available below. A methodology has been developed and refined and data exists for 61 residential over retail sites. 

Next Steps

DDOT is looking to launch a multi-jurisdiction effort to build an urban trip generation database. We are currently reaching out to peer cities, academics, and others to gauge interest in setting up a program around data collection. If you are interested in finding out more and potentially joining this effort, please contact the DDOT project manager, Stephanie Dock.
DDOT is also continuing to collect data, increasing the range of land uses surveyed. We will continue to refine the data collection methodology as we use it at more locations. As we get more sites, DDOT will also begin to do more analysis on the dataset to identify better trip rate estimates.

Outreach

  • DDOT presented the status of the project at the 2016 TRB Annual Meeting as a poster. That poster is available below. 
  • The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) hosted a webinar on this project on March 19, 2014. The presentation is available for download below and a recording of the webinar is here: https://www.hightail.com/download/elNKSmJ4SU9wcFVPd3NUQw.
  • DDOT and ITE hosted a meeting at the 2014 TRB Annual Meeting to present this project and discuss ways to move forward. Materials from that meeting are also available for download below.



  File Modified

PDF File Urban Trip Generation Phase 1 Final Report.pdf

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PDF File Project Overview.pdf

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PDF File Urban Trip Generation Phase 2 Final Report.pdf

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PDF File NACTO trip gen webinar 3-19-14.pdf

08 Feb, 2022 by Former user

PDF File Data and model handout.pdf

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PDF File Data Collection Form.pdf

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PDF File MXD+ Method Development Report wAppendices.pdf

08 Feb, 2022 by Former user

Microsoft Word Document Urban Trip Gen Field Instructions Final.docx

08 Feb, 2022 by Former user