Activity-based Approaches To Travel Analysis

Societal trends have made the need for better travel demand forecasts more urgent, at the same time as making people's travel and activity patterns far more complex. Traditional traffic flow models are no longer sophisticated enough to cope. Activity analysis is seen by many as the solution. It has had a short but intense history in geography, urban planning, time use research and, more recently, transportation.

Pioneering activity-based models have now been developed to the point where, some argue, it is time to abandon the traditional four-step model for transportation demand forecasting and to adopt activity-based approaches instead. Others claim that the complexity of such approaches, and their tremendous data requirements, prevent them from having a significant impact.

This book explores these claims and the issues associated with them. An introductory section outlines the debate. The body of the work is organised in four sections: modelling developments; theories and empirical analyses; data needs and data representation; and policy analysis. The final section discusses future research directions.

Review: David Banister ...the chapters all contribute something to our understanding of travel decision-making, particularly in terms of what strong contributions The Netherlands has been making. I particularly enjoyed the chapter that analysed concurrent decisions under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

Transport Reviews Hani Mahmassani, University of Texas This book is essential reading for any serious researcher in travel behaviour, and for transportation planning professionals who do not wish to be left behind. M. Senior, University of Wales, Cardiff a useful state-of-the-art reference book on activity-based travel analysis, which transport students, researchers and practitioners are likely to find of interest.

Environmental and Planning B: Planning and Design Chandra R. Bhat This collection of papers is impressive, and each chapter represents a frontier research area. The editors are to be commended for assembling a single volume that spans the entire gamut of activity-travel behavior, and producing a book that will undoubtedly serve as an important reference for future research.

Transportation Research Part A