Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Comparing the Models: Insights from Freight Behavior Data Improve Wisconsin's Freight Models - Freight Demand Modeling and Data Improvement Implementation Support - Long Description for Figure 1. Diagram. Behavior-based model framework. - FHWA Office of Operations

Long Description for Figure 1. Diagram. Behavior-based model framework.

This diagram depicts the components of the three models that currently comprise the Wisconsin DOT (WisDOT) behavior-based model and the interactions between them. It also depicts a fourth model, the Service Sector Model, which is not part of the SHRP2 C20 project, but is included for illustrative purposes. The interactions between the four models do not start or stop at one point, but represent a constant stream of interaction. From top to bottom, the diagram depicts the following:

Model 1. The Supply Chain and Logistics-based Fright model. This model represents the interactions of firms, suppliers, commodity flows, shipments, modes, and paths.

Model inputs include the following:

  • County business patterns (public data)
  • Macro and mesozone shape files (to be developed as part of this project)
  • Socioeconomic and demographic data (employment by type) (available to WisDOT)
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis inputs/outputs make and use table (public data)
  • Highway and rail networks (to be developed as part of this project)
  • Location of intermodal facility, D.C., warehouses (to be developed as part of this project)

Model Estimation Data include:

  • Freight Analysis Framework 3 (public data)
  • Establishment surveys (To be collected as part of multiyear freight model system plan (ongoing regional and statewide data collection plans)

Outputs of the supply chain & tour-based freight model include:

  • Trucks (carrying freight)
  • Rail
  • Water
  • Air

Geography includes:

  • Macrozones – external
  • Mesozones – internal
  • (Macro to meso, meso to macro, meso to meso)

Model calibration/validation data include:

  • TRANSEARCH (available to WisDOT)
  • External station truck counts (available to WisDOT)
  • Compare external flows versus current freight model flows (available to WisDOT)
  • Compare freight mode shares versus current freight model shares (to be developed as part of this project)

The Truck (freight) model outputs flow into the Tour-based Truck Model.

Model 2. The Tour Based Truck Model. This model generates tours and stops, stop purpose, location, and time-of-day choice. Its characteristics are as follows.

Inputs include:

  • Socioeconomic and demographic data (available to WisDOT)
  • Model skims (times, distances)

Model estimation data include:

  • American Trucking Research Institute truck Global Positioning System data (available to WisDOT)
  • Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey data (Public data)
  • Department of Motor Vehicles data (available to WisDOT)

Outputs include:

  • Daily trip tables by industry, time of day
  • Trucks (carrying freight)
  • Trucks (nonfreight)

Geography includes:

  • Mesozones to Traffic analysis zone level
  • Traffic analysis zone to traffic analysis zone level

Model calibration/validation data include:

  • Origin/Destination survey data (trip rates, trip length frequency distributions, time-of-day) (to be collected as part of multiyear freight model system plan (ongoing regional and statewide data collection plans)
  • Compare tour-based model results versus trip-based model (to be developed as part of this project)

The outputs of the Tour-based Truck Model are used by model number 4, the Trip Assignment Model.

Model 3. Service Sector Model This model is a function of population and employment distribution. Again, please note that the Service Sector Model is not part of the SHRP2 C20 project. It is included for illustrative purposes.

Inputs include:

  • Socioeconomic and demographic data (available to WisDOT)

Model estimation data include:

  • Commercial vehicle surveys (to be collected as part of multiyear freight model system plan (ongoing regional and statewide data collection plans)
  • Establishment surveys (to be collected as part of multiyear freight model system plan (ongoing regional and statewide data collection plans)
  • Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey data (public data)
  • Department of Motor Vehicles data (available to WisDOT)

Outputs of this model include:

  • Trucks (nonfreight).

Geography includes:

  • Traffic analysis zone level.

Model calibration/validation data include:

  • Estimates from other regions (to be developed as part of this project)
  • Compare service-sector trip rates from other models (available to WisDOT)
  • Plot spatial distribution of service truck origin/destination versus population and employment (to be developed as part of this project)

Note that the Truck (nonfreight) outputs of this model are incorporated into Model 2, the Tour-based Truck Model.

Model 4. The Trip Assignment Model. This model creates multiclass assignments and auto vehicle trip tables.

Both inputs and outputs include:

  • Multiclass daily truck flows by time of day.

Geography includes:

  • Link level

Model calibration/validation data include:

  • Truck vehicle miles traveled by county (to be developed as part of this project)
  • Vehicle classification data-screenlines (available to WisDOT)
  • Compare new freight model versus existing freight model volumes (to be developed as part of this project).

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