Geographical Extension of the Activity-based Modeling Framework FEATHERS

FEATHERS is an activity-based micro-simulation modeling framework used for transport demand forecasting. Currently, this framework is implemented for the Flanders region of Belgium and the most detailed travel demand data can be obtained at the Subzone level, which consists of 2,386 virtual units with an average area of 5.8 km(2). In this study, we investigated the transferability of applying the FEATHERS framework from the Subzone zoning system to a more disaggregated zoning system, i.e., Building block (BB), which is the most detailed geographical level currently applicable in Belgium consisting of 10,521 units with an average area of 1.3 km(2). In this paper, we elaborated the data processing procedure in order to implement the FEATHERS framework under the BB zoning system. The observed as well as the predicted travel demand in Flanders based on the two zoning systems were compared. The results indicated the validity and also the necessity of this extension. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.