Abstract
This dissertation presents a policy sensitive approach to modeling travel behavior based on activity pattern analysis. A theoretical model of complex travel behavior is formulated on a recognition of a wide range of interdependencies associated with an individual’s travel decisions in a constrained environment. Travel is viewed as input to a more basic process involving activity decisions. A fundamental tenet of this approach is that travel decisions are driven by the collection of activities that form an agenda for participation; the utility of any specific travel decision can be determined only within the context of the entire agenda. Based on this theoretical model of complex travel behavior, an operational system of models, STARCHILD (Simulation of Travel/Activity Responses to Complex Household Interactive Logistic Decisions), has been developed to examine the formation of household travel/activity patterns. The system employs a simulation approach in combination with techniques of pattern recognition, multiobjective optimization, and disaggregate choice models. Initial empirical verification of the theory and the system of models is presented based on results obtained from a sample data set.