OPERATIONAL EVIDENCE OF CHANGING TRAVEL PATTERNS: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

This study uses traffic count data collected between 1976 and 1985 in Montgomery County, Maryland, a Washington, D.C. suburb, to shed fresh light on changes in patterns of traffic. The study considered County trends, volume trends, spreading of the peak traffic, reverse commuting, and discretionary and nondiscretionary travel. The analysis reviewed traffic count data to identify changing travel patterns. Peak volumes on suburban links were found to increase faster than population, and the number of suburb-to-suburb trips, as measured by volumes on lateral links, is increasing as a share of trips, but in the congested peak directions, discretionary travel is declining in the peak period. These and other findings are presented and discussed.