CD ROM containing:
• Copies of all speaker presentations
• Audio of all speakers presentations and question and discussion sessions
• Speaker biographies and any additional papers they have supplied
• Information about exhibitors at the conference
• Delegate list

The last decade has seen a renaissance of transport modelling. Up until the early 1990s much of the transport modelling carried out in the UK was single mode, and dictated by appraisal requirements of major highway schemes. Following the 1994 SACTRA Report a re-think of appropriate techniques led to a shift in modelling methods, multi-modal and encompassing more responses than just re-assignment.

Although most of the current model applications nowadays are multi-modal, they still rely heavily on techniques that were pioneered in the sixties, and that have not evolved significantly since. There has been a partial shift from aggregate models to behaviourally-based disaggregate and choice-based techniques. Some dynamics have been introduced in the process, but most assignment solution methods rely heavily on algorithms designed 30 to 40 years ago. Most of the considerable speed improvements in computational technology have been sacrificed to larger modelled areas or the inclusion of more demand responses, such as departure time. Iterative solution methods are still the norm.

There are glimmers of change. Micro-simulation techniques have become standard practice, and start to encroach on traditional methods for smaller networks. The integration of land use interaction models is becoming more widespread. New information systems offer us cheaply an enormous volume of data at a level of detail that was inconceivable previously. The questions that models need to support answering in the 21st Century are different; the policies to be considered keep evolving. Is the equilibrium concept still of value? How can models deal better with uncertainty? How can policy-makers deploy models to help them with environmental policies, social exclusion and accessibility? What pressures are there from demand management and pricing perspectives?

At this conference leaders in the transport modelling field will give their views on the current transport modeller’s tool kit for the challenges of this decade, and their expectations for change. Academics and practitioners will celebrate the successes in the field, but also question if the time has come for quite radical changes. You will find out about new techniques that may add to existing methods. We expect plenty of debate – but no ultimate answers. A parallel exhibition will enable you to update yourself with transport modelling software from the UK and abroad.

Chair:
Dr Denvil Coombe, Independent Consultant

Speakers:
Professor Phil Goodwin, Professor of Transport Policy, Centre for Transport Studies, University of West of England

Prabhat Vaze, Head of Integrated Transport, Economics and Appraisal, Department for Transport

Andrew Daly, Senior Research Leader, RAND Europe and Visiting Professor at Institute of Transport, University of Leeds

Dr John Bates, Independent Consultant

Dr David Simmonds, Director, David Simmonds Consultancy

Stephen Druitt OBE, Managing Director, SIAS

John Swanson, Associate, Steer Davies Gleave

Peter Bonsall, Professor of Transport Planning, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

Dr Tom van Vuren, Divisional Director, Mott MacDonald and Visiting Professor, University of Leeds