Future Mobility Demand in Megaregions: A National Study with a Focus on the Gulf Coast

About three fourth of national population and wealth are concentered in the 11 megaregional areas that occupy one fourth of the land areas in the United States. The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) reveals that megaregions also concentrate current and future mobility demand. This report presents an approach that utilizes aggregate data for mobility study (for both passenger and freight) in a megaregional scale through a case study of the Gulf Coast megaregion (GCM). GCM exhibits unique travel characteristics relative to the national trend. A preliminary analysis on freight flow was also conducted for the GCM areas utilizing the 2002 and 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data. The study shows that the GCM area would experience an enormous amount of mobility growth by year 2050. The per capita traffic volume generated by each traveler in 2050 would double the 2010 level. The total traffic volume in 2050 would grow much faster, four times higher than in 2010. Freight demand in the GCM area is also fast growing. The projected trends of future travel demand indicate a growing pressure on the transportation infrastructure in GCM. It is unlikely that the demand for high-speed travel can all be met by air travel. Accordingly, planning for megaregional transportation should seriously consider high-speed travel in the form of High Speed Rail (HSR) to accommodate the future travel demand in the GCM area

• Record URL:
  http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00074-1.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Texas, Austin

  Center for Transportation Research, 3208 Red River Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78705

  Southwest Region University Transportation Center

  Texas A&M University
  3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Zhang, Ming
  • Zhang, Wenjia
• Publication Date: 2013-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 65p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Commodity flow; Freight transportation; High speed ground transportation; High speed rail; Mobility; Traffic volume; Travel demand
• Uncontrolled Terms: Megaregions
• Geographic Terms: Gulf Coast (United States)
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01496778
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: SWUTC/13/600451-00074-1
• Contract Numbers: DTRT12-G-UTC06
• Files: UTC, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Oct 28 2013 9:47AM