Active transportation demand modeling and infrastructure performance assessment

Due to obvious benefits and growing demand of active transportation, engineers and planners are eager to expand active transportation infrastructure facilities. However, no robust methodology has been developed for active transportation infrastructures assessment addressing its potential demand. This project aims to develop an integrated methodology estimate potential demand and to assess the infrastructures needs and quality, based on quantitative methods. A case study was conducted to apply these methods at North York Centre, City of Toronto. The potential active transportation demand was measured using short trips recorded in the area-wide transportation demand database. Quality of service, and connectivity measures were estimated for evaluating the performance of active transportation infrastructure. Quality of service includes Ottawa Multimodal Level of Service Guidelines, Pedestrian and Bike Level of Service from Highway Capacity Manual. The results show that the study area is operating at poor level of service and highly potential for active modes. Therefore, a new street design has been proposed to reach the desired performance level.