Exploring the Potential of Detailed Land Use Variables in Modelling External - Internal Trips

Abstract

The common methodology for distributing External-Internal (EI) trips is to collect traffic counts at the cordon line of a study area and to use total employment of the internal zone as the factor upon which zone attractiveness can be based. This methodology assumes that trips originating from outside the study area have a destination within the study area which is towards areas that are suitable for employment. However, depending on the type of employment at the destination, the attraction may vary. This paper examines different employment-based which makes the zones attractive for external trips. The paper concludes that the three scenarios in which the land use variables are utilized, indicate more improvement than those without considering the land use mix. A combination of retail employment and the number of different land-uses at the destination was the best possible methodology to determine external trip attraction within a study area. Furthermore, simply switching from total employment to retail employment at the destination location can also improve the accuracy of the travel model.