TRIPCAL5 - Program specifications informational report #6

This report documents the research and analysis undertaken to develop a state-of-the-art trip generation model for use by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This work was undertaken as a part of an overall effort to improve the transportation planning techniques utilized by the TxDOT. Trip generation has been accomplished by the TxDOT since the early severities using two computer programs, TRIPCAL3 and TRIPCAL4. The methods and models employed by those programs were considered to be outdated and no longer state of the practice in terms of trip generation. The work documented in this report includes a review of the input data for trip generation, a review of the trip generation rates developed as a result of recent travel surveys, a review of the current trip generation practice in urban areas outside Texas, and a review of the trip generation practice in Texas. Based on those reviews and analyses, specifications and recommendations were developed for a new trip generation program for use by the TxDOT as a part of their mainframe travel demand modeling package. The new program is called TRIPCAL5. The implementation of TRIPCAL5 is anticipated to provide a quantum improvement in the trip generation capabilities of the TxDOT.