ON THE EXPONENTIAL DISTANCE EFFECT

An alternative derivation of the formula for the exponential distance effect is described, giving a reasonable approximation to the distribution of residence to work trips. The attraction of a particular residence is assumed to be a random variable with a normal distribution. An expression is then derived for the probability that an utility is acceptable. This expression is modified to account for the fact that all residences are not equally attractive and then is multiplied by the total number of job holders in a given location to give the expected number of trips. The simplified expression does away with the 'equally likely' trip assumption of the entropy model. All probabilities are based on assumptions regarding human preferences. The average attraction of a location is directly related to trip generation, and the variance is inversely proportional to the average trip length. The expression shows that the distance effect is negligible at short range. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Pergamon Press, Incorporated

  Maxwell House, Fairview Park
  Elmsford, NY  United States  10523
• Authors:
  • Beckmann, M J
• Publication Date: 1976-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 357-358
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research /UK/
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: Pergamon Press, Incorporated

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Distance; Distributions (Statistics); Exponential distributions; Households; Human factors; Location; Mathematical models; Residential areas; Traffic measurement; Travel time; Trip generation; Trip length; Work trips
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models; Selection
• ITRD Terms: 6572: Distribution (stat); 663: Generated traffic; 309: Household; 2257: Human factor; 697: Journey time; 621: Journey to work; 9061: Location; 6473: Mathematical model; 9072: Selection
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I71: Traffic Theory; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00159791
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 12 1978 12:00AM