Regional Modeling Program

PART manages the regional modeling program in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Planning Department and the Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, and Burlington-Graham Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs).The program is jointly funded by each agency listed above and saves each MPO approximately $100,000 a year through PART's coordination of the program. View our Regional Modeling Vision (PDF).

The modeling program is governed by an Executive Committee and the Model Team. The Executive Committee meets as needed, and is responsible for approval of the annual work plan, program budget and major changes to the RTDM or TBFM structure. The Model Team is responsible for monitor the work of the regional travel demand modeling staff, developing the work plan and budget, and guiding special projects. The Model Teams meeting schedule is listed below.

All meetings are held in-person at the Piedmont Authoirty for Regiona Transportaiton (107 Arrow Road, Greensboro, NC 27409) and virtually. They begin at 10:00AM. Meetings are subject to cancellation without notice. For information about the modeling program or inquires about attend the meeting contact Mark E. Kirstner, Director of Planning at markk@partnc.org.

The program consists of four elements:

1. Regional Travel Demand Model (RTDM)
   RTDM is a multi-modal four-step regional travel demand model, designed to support long range transportation planning and programming decisions in the Triad region and in the Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, and Burlington-Graham MPOs. Learn more about the Regional Travel Demand Model.
2. Tour-based Freight Model (TBFM)
   The purpose of the TBFDM is to provide a detailed understanding of vehicular freight movement throughout the Piedmont Triad. This will help ensure a safe freight transportation system, support the region's economic well-being, and achieve efficiency in operations and investment in the freight transportation system. Learn more about the Advanced Freight Model.
3. Simplified Trips-on-Project Software (STOPS)
   STOPS is a limited implementation of the conventional "4-step" travel model. STOPS replaces the standard trip generation and trip distribution steps with the Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) – tabulations from the 2000 Census (and soon, the American Community Survey) to describe overall travel markets. It also replaces the traditional coded transit network with standard transit-services data in the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) format. Learn more about the Transit Boarding and Estimation Simulation Tool.
4. Scenario Planning and Growth Allocation Project (SPGA)
   Regional transportation and land use planning are enhanced through the use of scenario planning and future growth allocations develop through CommunityViz.. Learn more about CommunityViz.