Creating a Baseline Scenario for Simulating Travel Demand: A Case Study for Preparing the Region Test Bed Lower Saxony, Germany

Abstract

Agent-based travel demand models can be used to estimate the impact of possible transportation planning measures and to forecast future development of human mobility. Related transport models and associated simulation results are described often in detail, but explanations of the creation of the required baseline scenario including the necessary data preparation are rarely available and often not shown. Therefore, this paper gives general data requirements for creating a needed virtual representation of a study area. Furthermore, it shows a real example based on the preparation of the region covering the Test Bed Lower Saxony in Germany. Special focus is laid on population, location, and accessibility data within the area. The presented approach can also be used to prepare a different study area. Therefore, possible data sources and recommendations for preparing the data are given.