Citation

Wynn FH. Highw. Res. Board bull. 1959; 230: 1-52.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1959, National Research Council (U.S.A.), Highway Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Traffic studies are reported concerned with evaluation of past and present travel characteristics in the metropolitan area and derivation of techniques or formulae which would relate trip volumes and modes of travel to the numbers, wealth, and geographic distribution of populations. Origin- destination survey data from 1948 and 1955 were used. A comparative analysis of the two studies indicated increased urban population of about 41%, car ownership doubled, and the average income level of residents increased substantially. Travel increased more rapidly than population in the years between surveys. The number of private cars owned by residents more than doubled and the use of public transit declined about 5.5%. Profound changes were found in the proportions of travel for commercial and social purposes. Trips in the commercial category almost doubled, with most made by car. A new emphasis on evening shopping hours was noted. Social trips and school travel increased by only 25%. The hourly distribution of trips throughout the day changed very little. Nearly half of the daily transit use and about one-fourth of the truck and taxi travel is accounted for in the peak travel hours. Trip data from the origin-destination surveys were related to population, land use, and trip lengths to derive trip- estimating procedures. About 90% of the trips made by area residents for work, commercial, or social purposes were found to begin or end at place of residence and are classified as home-based. The distribution of trips between pairs of districts or entirely within a district was found to relate directly to the number of trip opportunities of each specific type within the study area and, in the case of inter-district travel, was related inversely to the distance or travel time between districts. Logarithmic interactance curves were prepared to show these relationships, by mode of travel, for trips in each principal purpose category.