A synthesis of GIS and activity-based travel-forecasting

The resurgence of interest in disaggregate activity-based travel-forecasting techniques has been fueled by several institutional and technological developments. This paper considers how one of these developments, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, has been used to support recent activity-based modeling efforts. Such efforts are dependent on detailed individual-level data, spatially accurate representations of the physical environment, and the development of more efficient information processing technologies. GIS through the capabilities offered for the collection, storage, manipulation, analysis, and display of spatially referenced data, could prove critical to the ultimate success of this approach. The example applications presented here show that GIS primarily functions as a support system for activity-based approaches. Future applications will likely use the analytical functions contained within the GIS itself. A key factor that emerged was that several fundamental issues need to be addressed in the application of GIS to support transportation problems. The accurate recording of individual activity participation is a particular problem in this regard.