Speaker: Bruce Douglas, Ph.D., Senior Professional Associate, Parsons Brinkkerhoff Quade and Douglas Inc.

A recently initiated Transportation Models and Data Initiative project will provide the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) and the New York Region with a set of travel forecasting models, computer programs, data bases, and users' guides for use in the analysis of transportation and its interaction with land use development, and air quality issues in the New York metropolitan area. The Travel-Demand/Air-Quality Model will address the requirements of the lntermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA), and will be designed to enable the inclusion of more sophisticated technology and modeling techniques as they become available in the future. This seminar will review the issues and planning frontiers encountered in this project.

The project will focus on the steps required to bring the NYMTC travel forecasting methods up to the generally accepted level of detail and proficiency found within major MPO models and explore new developing technology. It will also consider and evaluate incorporating the current enhancements being implemented by other MPOs to address the ISTEA and CAAA requirements. The project will address the regions immediate travel demand analysis needs and the state-of-readiness of the highway travel analysis methods, programs, and data. The development of procedures for travel forecasting, land use projections, and air quality analysis in the New York Region is a complex task, both because of the complexity of travel patterns and the transportation system in the New York metropolitan area and because of the variety of agencies and other participants with interest in the performance of the procedures. Consequently, this project includes careful efforts to define the goals, evaluate all data available, and determine what steps need to be taken to insure the ultimate completion of the model.

Dr. Bruce Douglas, Senior Professional Associate at Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, Inc. is the Principal Investigator of the Transportation Models and Data Initiatives Project and is a nationally recognized transportation planner and researcher. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board Committee on Transportation and Land use and Chairs the Sub-committee on Major Activity Centers, His research includes important investigations into trip generation and the interactions among transportation and urban form. Dr. Douglas has recently served as PI and Project Manager on transportation/urban form studies in Princeton NJ. Research Triangle in North Carolina and the Shady Grove Metro Station area in Montgomery County Maryland.