Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) Activity-Based Travel Model Peer Review Report

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Disclaimer

The views expressed in this document do not represent the opinions of FHWA and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation or specification by FHWA. The document is based solely on the discussions that took place during the peer review sessions and supporting technical documentation provided by Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC). The BMC provides technical assistance and staff support to Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB), the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Baltimore region.

1.2 Acknowledgements

The FHWA wishes to acknowledge and thank the peer review panel members for volunteering their time to participate in the peer review of the BMC travel demand forecast model (TDFM) and for sharing their valuable experience.

The peer review panel members were:

• Ken Cervenka - Federal Transit Administration (FTA),
• Brian Gardner - Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
• Ram Pendyala - Arizona State University,
• Erik Sabina - Colorado DOT (CDOT),
• Peter Vovsha - Parsons Brinckerhoff Consult (PB Consult),
• Kermit Wies - Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), and
• Lei Zhang - University of Maryland, College Park.

Brief biographies for each of the peer review panel members are presented in Appendix C.

1.3 Report Purpose

The peer review was supported by the Travel Model Improvement Program (TMIP), which is sponsored by FHWA. The peer review of a travel model can serve multiple purposes, including identification of model deficiencies, recommendations for model enhancements, and guidance on model applications. Given the increasing complexities of travel demand forecasting practice and the growing demands by decision-makers for information about policy alternatives, it is essential that travel forecasting practitioners have the opportunity to share experiences and insights. The TMIP-supported peer review provides a forum for this knowledge exchange.

The objective of the current TMIP peer review was to seek guidance and recommendations on the following features of the BMC's activity-based travel demand model, which is currently under development:

• The sufficiency of the model framework, structure, and methodology to address identified regional policies of interest, and
• The model validation criteria, targets, and sensitivity testing.

The peer review panel spent one day (12/06/2013) responding to specific questions from BMC and its planning partners. The results of those discussions and recommendations from the panel are presented in this report.

1.4 Report Organization

This report is organized into the following sections:

• Overview of BRTB - this section gives an introduction to the demographics, land use and transportation characteristics of the region, and BRTB's planning responsibilities.
• Development of the Baltimore Region Transportation Model - this section provides a historical context of travel modeling at BMC, the agency's current model improvement program, and their goals for the peer review.
• Regional Transporation Model Improvement Plan - this section covers an assessment of BMC's model enhancement needs, analytical needs for an ABM model, and data collection plan.
• BMC's activity-based model structure - this section covers an overview of the proposed ABM model structure.
• Peer review panel recommendations - this section provides the peer review panel's recommendations to BMC.

In addition, the report includes four appendices:

• Appendix A - list of peer review participants
• Appendix B - peer review meeting agenda
• Appendix C - biographies for each of the peer review panel members
• Appendix D - panel's presentation on findings and recommendations