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Dowling Associates, Inc. Transportation Engineering Planning Research Education Mode of Travel The City of Pleasanton travel demand model currently does not include a separate transit network or mode choice model. Instead, a table of zone to zone factors derived from the MTC model mode choice results are used to predict existing transit and ridesharing usage and expected changes in the "Approved" and General Plan "Buildout" future scenarios. The ratios of total person trips to vehicle trips for specific origin destination pairs from the MTC model are used to convert person trip generation to vehicle (auto) trip generation used in the Pleasanton forecast model. For example, if the MTC model estimates a higher -than- average use of transit between a certain residential area of Pleasanton and downtown San Francisco. these assumptions are used to estimate vehicle usage for those trip interchanges in the Pleasanton model. Separate tables are used for the base year (from 2000 MTC model results) and future years (from 2025 MTC model results). This process will be reviewed with City staff and updated as appropriate. Recommended Application of "4D" Processing The "4D" process uses inputs based on land use characteristics and estimates corresponding reductions in vehicle trip generation. The typical application of the 4D process within a travel model does nor accomplish the following: Identify how many of the reduced vehicle trips are actually converting to closer destinations Identify how many of the reduced vehicle trips are actually converting to ridesharing, transit or walk/bike other than general proportional estimates Differentiate between residential areas with and without transit connections to transit friendly destinations Provide trip reductions for groups of adjacent TAZs with diverse land uses instead of assuming all calculations are on individual TAZs. The standard 4D process also requires many detailed design inputs such as sidewalk completion which are more appropriate for evaluation of individual development projects than for long -range transportation planning. Therefore, simplifications of some of the 4D processes are recommended. Dowling has been using the original statistical research used as the basis for the 4D methods as well as newer research and techniques to improve on the 4D process so that travel models do not just reduce vehicle trips but actually estimate shifts to shorter trips and alternative modes. These "Urban Form Adjustment' techniques were tested in Fresno County during the Blueprint process and are ready for implementation in other models. The Urban Form Adjustment process mostly uses lists of TAZs with easy -to -use rating scales (0 to 3) to identify locations with urban forms which help to promote lower vehicle trips. The process uses the following inputs: Identify TAZs with supportive urban design features (such as high density right next to an arterial with bus service), and rate the TAZ by how much of the TAZ land use includes the newer development types Identify districts of TAZs with supportive urban design features (such as a dense retail development across the street from a dense residential development in a different TAZ) Identify corridors of TAZs with improved transit service or improved bicycle /pedestrian paths The inputs to the Urban Form Adjustment process can be quickly coded using GIS or the polygon feature in the Cube network editor. City of Pleasanton 7 2009 Traffic Model Update May 13, 2009