PEAK SPREADING - TEMPORAL CHANGES IN TRAVEL DEMAND IN THE GTA

The temporal distribution of trip making in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has changed over the past couple of decades, exhibiting longer and less pronounced peak periods. This increase in travel beyond the traditional hour is known as peak spreading and occurs in many major cities. This paper takes a first step toward understanding peak spreading by quantifying temporal relationships of travel demand. The relationships between peak hour, peak three hour period and daily hour traffic were investigated over a 11-year period at screenlines and compared to the trend in traffic congestion at the screenlines. A functional relationship between peak spreading and congestion is calibrated using data from the GTA. Differences between urban, suburban and rural areas and between freeways and arterial road are discussed. The paper identifies opportunities for encouraging peak spreading and presents research that attempts to quantify how social and technological changes such as alternate work schedules and telecommuting affect peak period demand. The paper concludes with a recommended strategy for the GTA to promote peak spreading through marketing and employer liaison.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Full Conference proceedings available only on CD.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Road Federation

  525 School Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20024
• Authors:
  • Bacquie, R
  • Wang, J
• Conference:
  • XIIIth World meeting of the International Road Federation
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • Date: 1997-6-16 to 1997-6-20
• Publication Date: 1997

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: n.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arterial highways; Freeways; Metropolitan areas; Peak hour traffic; Peak periods; Traffic congestion; Travel demand; Trip distribution
• Uncontrolled Terms: Peak loads
• Old TRIS Terms: Peak spreading; Temporal changes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00753640
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 26 1998 12:00AM