Understanding the Household Transportation Characteristics in Calicut City Using System Dynamics: Fid-Bau Portal

Understanding the Household Transportation Characteristics in Calicut City Using System Dynamics

Deepa, P. / Bimal, P.

System dynamics is an effective tool to model dynamic relationships between various parameters that interact, interrelate, and influence each other. This paper attempts to model transportation characteristics of a household in terms of vehicular ownership and its daily usage, which are influenced by socioeconomic parameters such as household size, household income, household structure, age categories, educational status, and working status which are interrelated with each other. Once a model is generated at the household level, the number of trips generated and the traffic volume generated from the neighborhood can be calculated. A model can be generated using the system dynamics technique. This study conducted at Calicut city has used primary data collected from 103 households. Which are considered as the agent module, which can be replicated to higher scales of an urban system. Data collected has been analyzed using statistical and a causal feedback diagram is generated using these parameters and their inter relationship with one another at a household level has been established. Further, a system dynamics model is built using STELLA. It is found that socioeconomic parameters such as age of the household member and education status highly influence the income of the HH and their readiness to spend for a comfortable and convenient travel mode. Similarly, vehicular ownership was also found to be a function of the number of graduates, postgraduates, retired members, and household income. The integrated model of all these parameters provides household travel characteristics in terms of quantifiable data of vehicular ownership and daily usage of vehicles.