A bio-physical model of trip generation/trip distribution
A bio-physical model of trip generation/trip distribution
This thesis attempts to establish a bio-physical model for trip generation/trip distribution where an individual's energy usage is the main determinant for the amount of daily travel. Previous studies have used socio-economic variables (such as household size, income or car ownership) to assess trip making. An analysis of the data collected by the UK National Travel Survey (NTS) for the period 1972-1995 have been used to show that socio-economic variables have a variational rather than a determining effect on trip making. Trip generation and trip distribution can be combined, since daily travel time is linked to the number of trips per day (which is related to generation) and the single trip time (which is related to distribution). Two presuppositions are essential to the approach: firstly, the unit of reference is changed from the household to the individual, and secondly, modes of transport are considered separately. These enable to hypothesis to be formed which states that the amount of daily travel of a person is determined by an individual's biophysical energy budget, and the time spent in travelling is proportional to the mode of transport used for these travelling activities. Empirically, this can be verified by combining ergonomic measurements of the internal energy expended in different travel activities, and the NTS data, which give the distribution of external, daily movement by different modes of transport. Theoretically, an analogy of statistical physics can be developed to ensure a methodological consistency with established principles of physics, and to gain a physically causal understanding of human travel behaviour. It was not possible to fully verify the approach mathematically, since not all functions of the internal energy expenditure are readily available. However, despite this limitation, a model can be developed which is valid for non-vehicular and vehicular modes of transport and which shows distance as a mode-dependent measure.
University of Southampton
Kölbl, Robert Johann
60f57419-356c-4061-b0fa-907e15ef9c56
2000
Kölbl, Robert Johann
60f57419-356c-4061-b0fa-907e15ef9c56
Kölbl, Robert Johann
(2000)
A bio-physical model of trip generation/trip distribution.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis attempts to establish a bio-physical model for trip generation/trip distribution where an individual's energy usage is the main determinant for the amount of daily travel. Previous studies have used socio-economic variables (such as household size, income or car ownership) to assess trip making. An analysis of the data collected by the UK National Travel Survey (NTS) for the period 1972-1995 have been used to show that socio-economic variables have a variational rather than a determining effect on trip making. Trip generation and trip distribution can be combined, since daily travel time is linked to the number of trips per day (which is related to generation) and the single trip time (which is related to distribution). Two presuppositions are essential to the approach: firstly, the unit of reference is changed from the household to the individual, and secondly, modes of transport are considered separately. These enable to hypothesis to be formed which states that the amount of daily travel of a person is determined by an individual's biophysical energy budget, and the time spent in travelling is proportional to the mode of transport used for these travelling activities. Empirically, this can be verified by combining ergonomic measurements of the internal energy expended in different travel activities, and the NTS data, which give the distribution of external, daily movement by different modes of transport. Theoretically, an analogy of statistical physics can be developed to ensure a methodological consistency with established principles of physics, and to gain a physically causal understanding of human travel behaviour. It was not possible to fully verify the approach mathematically, since not all functions of the internal energy expenditure are readily available. However, despite this limitation, a model can be developed which is valid for non-vehicular and vehicular modes of transport and which shows distance as a mode-dependent measure.
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Published date: 2000
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Local EPrints ID: 464173
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/464173
PURE UUID: 1626bf8f-95c0-46b6-a22f-a15c6c818207
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 21:25
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:19
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Author:
Robert Johann Kölbl
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