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1WELCOME Chandra Bhat My name is Chandra Bhat and I am the cochair of the planning committee for this innovative modeling confer- ence. Ken Cervenka is the other cochair. On behalf of Ken and the entire Conference Planning Committee, I would first like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you to our glorious longhorn world and city of Austin. We are pleased you are able to join us in what we hope will be an important landmark conference in travel modeling. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the sponsors of the conference. These sponsors include the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the Federal High- way Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Capital Metropolitan Trans- portation Authority, the Central Texas Regional Mobil- ity Authority, HNTB Corporation, PBS&JâAustin, and URS Corporation. I will spend a few minutes on the history that led up to this conference and the objectives of the conference. As you are all probably aware, the last major specialty travel demand modeling conference was held as part of the U.S. Department of Transportationâs Travel Model Improvement Program (TMIP) in the fall of 1996. At that time, there was little research and no practical appli- cation of land use models and activity- based travel demand models and their integration with demographic, economic, and network modes. Since then, there has been a literal revolution in the development, testing, and use of activity- based travel models. In particular, we have seen significant advances over the past decade in survey methods and analysis tools available to the travel demand modeling profession. The past decade has cer- tainly been a very fertile period for the development of new approaches and techniques in travel modeling. It is indeed a very exciting time for travel demand modeling professionals. Planning for this conference began 2 years ago under the auspices of the TRB Transportation Demand Fore- casting Committee. The Traveler Behavior and Values Committee, the Travel Survey Committee, and the Mov- ing Activity- Based Modeling into Practice Task Force also participated in the development of the conference. The Conference Planning Committee did an excellent job of organizing an interesting, informative, and chal- lenging conference. The conference is intended to promote an open and frank exchange of ideas and experiences among academ - ics, model developers, and practitioners. The planning committee identified three objectives for the conference. The first objective is to examine advances in travel demand modeling. The second objective is to facilitate the sharing of ideas and information among academics and practitioners on the opportunities and the challenges associated with the implementation of advanced travel models. The third objective is to identify additional needs for research, education, and training to ensure that the travel demand modelers of today and tomorrow are ade- quately prepared to apply the new model techniques. PLENARY SESSION Overview of the Policy Issues Chandra Bhat, University of Texas at Austin, Conference Planning Committee Cochair Ken Cervenka, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Conference Planning Committee Cochair Frank Koppelman, Northwestern University Michael Morris, North Central Texas Council of Governments Edward Weiner, U.S. Department of Transportation
