Moving to tour based models in QLD: is it time?

The state of practice for model development has shifted away from the classic trip-based four-step model to tour-based models and activity based models, both of which use a tour rather than a trip as the basic unit of analysis and estimation. Tour-based models can take advantage of a wider range of data inputs compared to trip-based models, and are more complex as a result. They produce a richer dataset for analysis resulting in a modelling platform sensitive to changing trip patterns, demographic and land-use characteristics, enabling a greater range of policy testing to inform transport planning decisions. This paper takes household travel survey data from the South East Queensland Travel Survey and the Cairns Travel Survey and analyses it using both a trip and tour methodology. Comparisons and results are presented from this analysis for the two urban areas including insights into the proportion of journeys which involve intermediate stops, how the observed mode choice and timing of trips differ for tours and explanation of the majority of non-home based travel through tours. This paper concludes with the recommendation that tour-based transport modelling frameworks are appropriate and should be investigated further in Queensland and elsewhere in Australia.