INCORPORATING URBAN DESIGN VARIABLES IN METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS' TRAVEL DEMAND MODELS

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) find it difficult to address urban design issues in their work programs for both technical and policy reasons. There are emerging arguments for MPOs staff to take the relationship between urban design and travel demand more seriously. Air quality conformity requirements that MPOs face provide an incentive to include urban design variables. Transit interests have also keyed on the relationship between urban design and transit ridership. Those who argue that the travel demand models need to be responsive to urban design variables expect urban design to influence travel behavior in the following manner: 1. increase transit ridership by reducing the access/egress distances for transit; 2. substitute nonmotorized trips for vehicle trips; 3. shorten trip lengths; 4. increase transit ridership by altering travel patterns; and 5. alter trip generation. This paper discusses each of the above travel behavior influences, and elaborates with model results.