Comprehensive Validation of an Activity-Based Model – Experiences from Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Activity-Based Model Development

Activity-based models (ABM) are very sophisticated and consist of a number of interrelated, discrete choice modeling components. That is, the upstream model components (long-term choice models) provide inputs to the person-level models (daily activity, intra-household interactions) which, in turn, provide inputs to tour-level models (destination, mode, time of day) and, finally, trip-level models. Due to the number of model components, the complexity of the various models, and the amount of information passed between models, there is a high chance of error propagation if all of the components are not properly calibrated and validated. A rigorous calibration process is necessary for various levels – geographic (regional, sub-regional, county, or district), market segments (income, trip purpose), and household structures and person-types (gender, full time worker, etc). This paper discusses the need for a detailed validation plan and lays out priorities for different tests to be performed. This paper focuses on a comprehensive methodology that was laid out for the Houston- Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) ABM development effort. This paper also presents example calibration results from the H-GAC ABM validation effort for several ABM components.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB50 Transportation Planning Applications. Alternate title: Comprehensive Validation of Activity-Based Model: Experiences from Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Activity-Based Model Development
  • Corporate Authors:

    Transportation Research Board

    500 Fifth Street, NW
    Washington, DC  United States  20001
  • Authors:
    • Milkovits, Marty
    • Kuppam, Arun
    • Kurth, David L
    • Rossi, Thomas
  • Conference:
  • Date: 2015

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 18p
  • Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01557878
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 15-4275
  • Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Mar 26 2015 5:27PM