TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR NATIONAL FOREST PLANNING

DURING THE PAST 3 YEARS A MAJOR RESEARCH PROGRAM AT ITTE HAS DEVELOPED AN EXTENSIVE PACKAGE OF TECHNIQUES TO PERFORM TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANNING FOR NATIONAL FORESTS. THESE TECHNIQUES INCLUDE TRAVEL-DEMAND MODELS, NETWORK-ANALYSIS MODELS, AND PROCEDURES FOR DATA COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT. TWO INTERACTING SETS OF TRAVEL-DEMAND MODELS WERE DEVELOPED TO ANALYZE RECREATION TRIP-MAKING TO NATIONAL FORESTS. THE "MACRO-ALLOCATION" MODELS ESTIMATE AGGREGATE STATEWIDE RECREATION TRAFFIC VOLUMES TO EVERY NATIONAL FOREST. THE "MICRO-ALLOCATION" MODELS ESTIMATE THE TRAFFIC VOLUMES ON THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM OF ONE PARTICULAR STUDY FOREST. NETWORK-ANALYSIS MODELS WERE DEVELOPED TO ANALYZE THE EFFICIENCY OF A FOREST TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR LOW-VOLUME NONRECREATION TRAFFIC. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE ROLE OF THESE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES IN A PROPOSED PROCESS FOR NATIONAL FOREST PLANNING. EACH OF THESE MODELS AND SUPPORTING TECHNIQUES IS DESCRIBED, AND THEIR INTERACTIONS ARE DISCUSSED.