FACTORS AFFECTING TRIP GENERATION OF RESIDENTIAL LAND-USE AREAS

THE PRESENT AND POTENTIAL TRIP-GENERATING POWER OF URBAN RESIDENTIAL AREAS CAN BE ESTIMATED WITH A REASONABLE DEGREE OF ACCURACY, DEPENDENT UPON THE AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF CERTAIN RELATED INFORMATION. THE MAJOR FACTORS AFFECTING TRIPS BY RESIDENTS OF AN AREA ARE POPULATION AND AUTOMOBILE OWNERSHIP. WITH DATA NORMALLY DEVELOPED FROM A HOME- INTERVIEW-TYPE ORIGIN AND DESTINATION SURVEY IT IS POSSIBLE EITHER TO UP-DATE THE RESIDENT TRIP INFORMATION OR, WITH SLIGHTLY LESS RELIABILITY, TO FORECAST THE TRIPS FOR SOME FUTURE DATE. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF TRIP ENDS IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA IS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF TRIPS MADE BY RESIDENTS OF THAT AREA BETWEEN ALL ORIGINS AND DESTINATIONS. THERFORE, ANY METHODS FOR ESTIMATING RESIDENTS TRIPS ARE EQUALLY APPLICABLE TO ESTIMATES OF TOTAL TRIP ENDS ON RESIDENTIAL LAND. AS A COROLLARY, THE NUMBER OF TRIPS TO NON-RESIDENTIAL LAND IN AN URBAN AREA CAN BE ESTIMATED IF THE NUMBER OF TRIPS MADE BY RESIDENTS OF THE ENTIRE URBAN AREA IS KNOW. GENERALLY, ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF ALL TRIPS MADE BY RESIDENTS OF A RESIDENTIAL AREA BEGIN OR END AT HOME. ALSO APPROXIMATELY 80 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL TRIP ENDS ON RESIDENTIAL LAND, BY RESIDENTS AND NON RESIDENTS, ARE HOME ORIENTED. THESE PROPORTIONS ARE GREATER IN AREAS WHERE CAR OWNERSHIP AND ECONOMIC STATUS ARE LOWER, AND WHERE POPULATION DENSITY IS HIGHER. THEY DO NOT VARY APPRECIABLY WITH DISTANCE FROM THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT. THESE FINDINGS ARE ALL BASED UPON ANALYSES OF DATA FROM THE TWO HOME-INTERVIEW-TYPE ORIGIN AND DESTINATION TRAFFIC SURVEYS MADE IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C., METROPOLITAN AREA IN 1948 AND 1955. ALL OF THE RESULTS PERTAIN TO THE WASHINGTON AREA DURING THE TIME INTERVAL STUDIED, BUT IT MAY REASONABLY BE ASSUMED THAT CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE FINDINGS AND METHODOLOGY WILL BE APPLICABLE ELSEWHERE. /AUTHOR/