Return to Travel and Land Use Forecasting  Travel and Land Use Forecasting    Project Summary :: 1  2  3  4  5   UrbanSim Model Development and Application - Greater Wasatch Front Region, Utah Project Background Resource Systems Group staff led the development and implementation of the UrbanSim land-use modeling software for the Wasatch Front Regional Council and Mountainland Association of Governments. Upon implementation, the integrated modeling system was used successfully for the Wasatch Choices 2040 Visioning effort, a joint venture of the MPOs and Envision Utah. Project Scope RSG staff led a multi-year development effort of the modeling system, including expert panel reviews of the modeling system and the baseline forecasts. UrbanSim model development efforts included database refinement, choice model estimation, integration with a Cube travel demand model, model calibration and sensitivity testing. This project was the first opportunity to utilize the advanced practice modeling system in a public setting, and RSG staff oversaw the forecasting effort. Project Results The Visioning effort is wrapping up, with the goal being a collaborative, regionally adopted vision for guiding growth over the next 40 years. The comprehensive analytical effort provided a wonderful opportunity to engage community leaders and the public, contributing to overall input into the planning process being far higher than had ever been achieved. The integrated modeling system proved to be a useful tool for comparing multiple land-use and transportation scenarios in a manner consistent with urban growth theory. The outcome of this effort will feed into the MPO long-range plan and provide the basis for long-range plan forecasts.