**3.1 ABM transferability from one geographical context to another**

The spatial transferability of a travel demand model happens when the information or theory of a developed model of one region is applied to a new context [98]. Transferability can be used not only as a beneficial validation test for the models but also to save the cost and time required to develop a new model. Validation of a model by testing spatial transferability beside other various methods such as base-year and future-year data set is a test of validity which represents the capability of activity-based models in predicting travel behavior in a different context [99]. The exact theoretical basis and behavioral realism of activity-based travel demand model make them more appropriate for geographic transferability in comparison to traditional trip-based models [100]. Testing the transferability of ABM was first investigated by Arentze et al. [101]. They examined the possibility of transferring the ALBATROSS model at both individual and aggregate levels for two municipalities (Voorhout and Apeldoorn) in the Netherlands by simulating activity patterns. The results were satisfactory except for the transportation mode choice. In the United States, the CT-RAMP activity-based model which was developed for the MORPC region then transferred to Lake Tahoe [102]. In another study, one component of the ADAPTS model showed the potential for having good transferability properties [31]. The transferability of the DaySim model system developed for Sacramento to four regions in California and two other regions in Florida was investigated in [103]. The results show that the activity generation and scheduling models can be transferred better than mode and location choice models. The CEMDAP model developed for Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) region was transferred to the southern California region [104]. Outside the U.S., the TASHA model system developed for Toronto was transferred to London [105], and also in another study [106] the transferability of TASHA to the context of the Island of Montreal was assessed. Activity generation, activity location choice, and activity scheduling were three components of TASHA that transferred from Toronto to Montreal. In general, TASHA provided acceptable results at (macro and meso-level) for work and school activities even in some cases better results for Montreal in comparison to Toronto area. The possibility of developing a local area activity-based transport demand model for Berlin by transferring an activity generation model from another geographical area (Los Angeles) and applying the traffic counts of Berlin was investigated [107]. In their research, the CEMDAP model was applied to achieve a set of possible activity-travel plans, and the MATSim simulation was then used to generate a representative travel demand for the new region. The results were quite encouraging, however, the study indicated a need for further evaluation. In one recent study [108], an empirical method was used to check the transferability of ABMs between regions. According to their investigations, the most difficult problems with transferability caused by parameters of travel time, travel cost, land use, and logsum accessibilities. They suggested that in the transferability of the ABM from another region, agencies should be aware of finding a region within the

**35**

emissions.

*Recent Progress in Activity-Based Travel Demand Modeling: Rising Data and Applicability*

same state or with similar urban density, or preferably both in order to improve the results. The possibility of transferring the FEATHERS model to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam is investigated [109]. FEATHERS initially is developed for Flanders in Belgium. After calibration of FEATHERs sub-models, testing results using different indicators confirmed the success of transferring the FEATHER's structure to the

At the theoretical level, a perfect transferable model contributes to the transferability of its underlying behavioral theory, model structure, variable specification and coefficient to the new context. However, perfect transferability is not easy to achieve due to different policy and planning needs as well as the size of the regions, and the availability of data and other resources. Although the results of several transferred ABM model systems seem to have worked reasonably, it is equally important to assess how much accuracy is important in transferring models and

One of the advantages of the activity-based travel demand models over tripbased models is its capability to generate various performance indicators such as emission, health-related indicators, social exclusion, well-being, and quality of life indicators. Application of disaggregate models for the area of emission and air quality analysis was introduced by Shiftan [110] who investigated the Portland activity-based model in comparison to trip-based models. In another study [111], the same author integrated the Portland activity-based model with MOBILE5 emission model to study the effects of travel demand techniques on air quality. Regarding the integration of ABM with the emission model, the Albatross ABM model was coupled with MIMOSA (macroscopic emission model) [112] considering the usage of fuel and the amount of produced emission as a function of travel speed. A study in [113] added one dispersion model (AUROTA) to the previous integration of Albatross and MIMOSA to predict the hourly ambient pollutant. Albatross linked with a probabilistic air quality system was employed [114] in air quality assessment study. TASHA was another activity-based model, which has been extensively employed in air quality studies. For example, this model was integrated [29, 115] with MOBILE6.2 to quantify vehicle emissions in Toronto. In their study, EMME/2 was used in the traffic assignment part. The previous research was improved [116] by replacing EMME/2 with MATSim as an agent-based DTA model. This TASHA-MATSim chain was used in the research [117] with the integration of MOBILE6.2C (emission model) and CALPUFF (dispersion model). OpenAMOS linked with MOVES emission model [118], and ADAPTS linked with MOVES [119] together with Sacramento ABM model [120] are among recent studies which represented the application of activity-based models in analyzing the impacts of vehicular

Human well-being and personal satisfaction play an important role in social progression [121]. To understand the theory behind human happiness, transport policies concentrated on the concept of utility as a tool to increase activity, goods, and services [122, 123]. The issue of well-being as a policy objective is addressed in the literature and measured through various indicators, which show personal satisfaction and growth. For example, in the study by Hensher and Metz [124, 125], saving time which leads to engagement in more activities was introduced as one of the benefits of measuring transport performance. Spatial accessibility was another benefit of travel that provides a range of activities that can be reasonably reached by individuals [126]. A dynamic ordinal logit model was developed [127] based on the collected data on happiness for a single activity in Melbourne. The authors found

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93827*

how best and where to transfer models from.

**3.2 ABM transferability to other non-transport domain**

new context.

#### *Recent Progress in Activity-Based Travel Demand Modeling: Rising Data and Applicability DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93827*

same state or with similar urban density, or preferably both in order to improve the results. The possibility of transferring the FEATHERS model to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam is investigated [109]. FEATHERS initially is developed for Flanders in Belgium. After calibration of FEATHERs sub-models, testing results using different indicators confirmed the success of transferring the FEATHER's structure to the new context.

At the theoretical level, a perfect transferable model contributes to the transferability of its underlying behavioral theory, model structure, variable specification and coefficient to the new context. However, perfect transferability is not easy to achieve due to different policy and planning needs as well as the size of the regions, and the availability of data and other resources. Although the results of several transferred ABM model systems seem to have worked reasonably, it is equally important to assess how much accuracy is important in transferring models and how best and where to transfer models from.
