6.1 General Overview
Network Change
There are four networks officially part of the LRTP
“2045 Path Forward” effort. These are for the years 2015, 2018 (E+C), 2030 and 2045. The information regarding the period of construction related to the planned roadway projects within the North Florida
TPO’s area is listed in 2045 Cost Feasible Plan Technical Report.Employment Change
In future, some areas may see growth/decline in employment due to increase/decrease in business establishments or some other reasons. In addition, the distribution of different employment types could change over the years.
In order to reflect those changes in the model, the DaySim buffered parcel file needs to be updated - \Scenarios\{SCENARIO_NAME}\ Input\DaySimInput\02_Parcel\buffered_maz_year.dat. Follow the instructions in 3.6 Updating Input Data section to configure the model procedure sequence for land-use data changes
Population Change
After a base year population has been synthesized, new synthetic populations may need to be generated based on the type scenario being run or the policy being tested. For example, a change in the network may not require the population to be synthesized again. On the other hand, if a land-use policy variable is being tested which would result in significantly different patterns in the population and employment levels in the TAZs than in the base case, a new synthetic population would be have to be generated. The same would be the case for a future year run when the population mix or distribution of specific population characteristics may deviate from those in the base synthetic population. Population is likely to increase in future, however, it may not increase proportionately geographically. A change in employment may also alter the existing geographic distribution of the population. To accommodate a change in population following three input files need to be updated:
- Buffered parcel file (\Scenarios\{SCENARIO_NAME}\Input\DaySimInput\02_Parcel\ buffered_maz_year.dat)
- Household file (\Scenarios\{SCENARIO_NAME}\Input\DaySimInput\03_Household\household_year.dat)
- Person file (\Scenarios\{SCENARIO_NAME}\Input\DaySimInput\04_Person\person_year.dat)
To update the buffered parcel file, follow the instructions in 3.6 Updating Input Data section to configure the model procedure sequence for land-use data changes.
Synthetic population data (household and person files) would also need updates. As previously described, the synthetic population is generated using PopulationSim. NERPMAB v2.2 has been designed to handle synthetic population update relating to changes in zonal households. the update_controls.py Python script adjusts the PopulationSim controls as per changes in the number of households at the MAZ level. For more significant changes involving changes in distributions, the marginal control files for population synthesis will need to be updated manually. After that synthetic population needs to be generated using the new input files (Please refer to PopulatinSim guide for synthesis instructions).
