Hybrid Discrete Choice Departure-Time and Duration Model for Scheduling Travel Tours

A new model for scheduling travel tours is described. The model is essentially a discrete choice construct that operates with tour departure-from-home and arrival-back-home time combinations as alternatives. The proposed utility structure, based on continuous-shift variables, represents an analytical hybrid that combines the advantages of a discrete choice structure (flexible and easy to estimate and apply) with advantages of a duration model (parsimonious structure with a few parameters that support any level of temporal resolution including continuous time). The hybrid model currently has a temporal resolution of 1 h, which is expressed in 190 hour-by-hour departure- and arrival-time alternatives. The model is applied sequentially for all tours in the individual daily activity-travel pattern according to a predetermined priority of each activity type. The enhanced temporal resolution allows for applying direct availability rules for each subsequently scheduled tour to be placed in the residual time window left after the tours of higher priority are scheduled. This feature ensures a full consistency for the whole individual daily schedule. The model has been estimated and applied as a part of the new regional travel demand model developed recently for the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.