This guidebook reviews the state-of-the-practice of statewide travel forecasting. It focuses on those techniques that have been considered essential to good statewide travel forecasting. Emphasis is placed on practical methods.

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 358: Statewide Travel Forecasting Models examines statewide travel forecasting models designed to address planning needs and provide forecasts for statewide transportation, including passenger vehicle and freight movements. The report explores the types and purposes of models being used, integration of state and urban models, data requirements, computer needs, resources (including time, funding, training, and staff), limitations, and overall benefits. The report includes five case studies, two that focus on passenger components, two on freight components, and one on both passenger and freight.

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 716: Travel Demand Forecasting: Parameters and Techniques provides guidelines on travel demand forecasting procedures and their application for helping to solve common transportation problems.

"This [i.e. The] purpose of this guidebook is to help organizations improve the development, implementation, and management of their transportation plans and programs. By adding an element of performance measurement and monitoring to existing transportation planning processes, agencies can obtain better information about the performance of their existing programs and services. Performance-based planning provides a process and tools to identify and assess alternative programs, projects, and services with respect to overall transportation plan goals and objectives."--Ch. 1. Overview, p. 3.

Forecasting is required in many situations. Stocking an inventory may require forecasts of demand months in advance. Telecommunication routing requires traffic forecasts a few minutes ahead. Whatever the circumstances or time horizons involved, forecasting is an important aid in effective and efficient planning. This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to forecasting methods and presents enough information about each method for readers to use them sensibly.

"TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 735: Long-Distance and Rural Travel Transferable Parameters for Statewide Travel Forecasting Models explores transferable parameters for long-distance and rural trip-making for statewide models. Appendixes G, H, and I are not contained in print or PDF versions of the report but are available online. Appendix G presents a series of rural typology variables considered in stratifying model parameters and benchmarks and identifies the statistical significance of each. Appendix H contains rural trip production rates for several different cross-classification schemes and the trip rates associated with each. Finally, Appendix I provides additional information on auto occupancy rates."--Publisher's description.

Federal planning legislation and regulations now mandate that state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations consider the needs of freight when planning and programming transportation investments. While there are standard techniques used to forecast the movement of people, less attention has been paid to forecasting freight movements, and there are consequently fewer standardized techniques that state and local agencies can adapt to their local situation. This Toolkit is designed to provide transportation planners with the information they need to prepare forecasts of freight transportation by highlighting techniques successfully developed by state agencies across the country.

This synthesis report will be of interest to department of transportation ( DOT) administrators, planning supervisors, managers, and staffs, as well as to planning consultants that work with them. It provides information for practitioners interested in the results of attempts to apply multimodal considerations at the statewide level and identifies key research findings. It covers post-ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991) processes and projects and both passenger and freight activities. The report examines the application of three multimodal aspects: alternatives, modal mix, and integration into three statewide planning functions, which include state planning, corridor studies, and financing, budgeting, and programming. The emphasis is on implementation. This report of the Transportation Research Board documents processes and research currently under development, using three approaches: a literature review, results of a survey of state DOTs, and five case studies. It cites the following states with exemplary practices in multimodal/intermodal transportation based on a 1998 report by the policy research project at the University of Texas on Multimodal/ Intermodal Transportation: Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.