Data and Assumptions

In this section, you will find some useful infomation you may need to use in your RTM application project. Some of them are RTM assumptions and some of them are the calibrated factors. This document could be a dictionary of the model components.

Modes and Vehicles

This section shows the link and transit mode, and transit vehicle type

Mode Description
v Vehicles (Primary Auto Mode)
c High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV)
d Single Occupancy Vehicles (SOV)
x Light Trucks
t Heavy Trucks
n Discourage Heavy Vehicle Traffic
b Bus
p Pedestrian
a Auxillary Transit Access
l SkyTrain
r Commuter Rail (WCE)
s SeaBus
h Gondola

Transit mode

Mode Description
b Bus
l SkyTrain
r Commuter Rail (WCE)
s SeaBus
g BRT
f LRT
h Gondola

Transit Vehicle Capacity and Cost

The table below gives a transit vehicle capacity and cost catalog. The value is used in the capacited transit assignment.

Transit Vehicle Mode Fleet Size Capacity(S/T) OC($/h) OC($/km) Auto. equ
1.Motor-Bus b 747 35/50 65 0.55 2.5
2.Trolley b 224 31/47 65 0.55 2.5
3.Blue-Bus b 48 31/47 65 0.55 2.5
4.Sea-Bus s 2 300/400 0 0 0
5.Sky-E l 999 88/287 0 3 0
6.pcl-bus b 20 50/50 30 0.55 2.5
7.Abbotsford b 12 48/60 30 0.55 2.5
8.Comrail-5 r 5 1500/1650 0 0 0
9.Chilliwack b 12 48/60 30 0.55 2.5
10.Mot-Artics b 42 48/90 65 0.55 3.75
11.Tro-Artics b 1 49/70 65 0.55 3.75
12.HwyCoach b 66 49/49 65 0.55 2.5
13.MiniBus b 40 20/24 65 0.55 2.5
14.Sky-M l 999 140/300 0 0 0
15.Sky-Sh l 999 150/350 0 0 0
16.BRT g 42 60/105 0 0 3.75
17.LRT f 1 160/300 0 3 0
18.Gondola h 20 28/35 0 0 0
20.Sky-ML2 l 999 127/218 0 0 0
31.EL-2017 l 999 174/424 0 3 0
32.EL-2030 l 999 143/509 0 3 0
33.EL-2045 l 999 143/509 0 3 0
34.ML-2017 l 999 66/222 0 3 0
35.ML-2030 l 999 132/444 0 3 0
35.ML-2030 l 999 132/444 0 3 0
36.ML-2045 l 999 132/444 0 3 0
37.CL-2017 l 999 88/288 0 3 0
38.CL-2030 l 999 88/288 0 3 0
39.CL-2045 l 999 110/360 0 3 0

Volume Delay Function

VDF Description Expression
11 Centroid Connector length x 60/40
12 Bowen Island Service 40 + (volume-100) x 60/volume x (volume>=100)
13 Highway Merge Lane length x 60/posted_speed + 0.85 x (volume/(capacity x lanes))^5
14 Stop Sign and Signal signal_delay + length x 60/posted_speed + 0.85 x (volume/(capacity x lanes))^4
15 Free Flow length x 60/posted_speed x (1+0.6 x 0.85 x (volume/(capacity x lanes^1.05))^5)
16 Free Flow length x 60/(posted_speed x 1.1) x (1+0.6 x 0.43 x (volume/(capacity x lanes^1.05))^5.25)

Time of Assginment

The RTM model only handles 3 scenarios in each databank. Each scenario stores one-hour assignment result, and it is used to represent various periods throughout the day.

Peak Period Hour Hours of the day represented
AM 07:30 - 08:30 06:00 - 10:00
MD 12:00 - 13:00 10:00 - 15:00, 18:00 - 06:00
PM 16:30 - 17:30 15:00 - 18:00

Expansion Factor

The traffic expansion factor is to convert the model assigned hourly traffic volume to daily volume. The factor set has a generic set and categorized set. Both sets can be used according to the study purpose.

All Class

AM MD PM
3.68 9.20 3.11

By Category

Class AM MD PM
SOV 3.44 8.41 3.95
HOV 1.51 8.58 5.32
SOV+HOV 3.22 8.63 4.05
LGV 3.59 5.63 6.17
HGV 4.88 5.43 6.36
LGV+HGV 3.83 5.81 6.63

Transit Ridership

The transit expansion factor converts the hourly transit ridership to daily value. Like auto traffic, the factor set is classed by different types of service. The value shows below. (*SeaBus has the same factor with Rail)

Transit mode AM MD PM
Bus 2.54 9.44 2.57
SkyTrain 2.53 9.54 2.92
WCE 3.34 - 2.02

Annual Factor

The annual expansion factor is to expend the daily volume on typical fall weekday to yearly volume. The generic expansion factor, including all vehicle classes, is 333. And the factors for each class are shown below:

Class Factor
All Classes 333
Auto 335
LGV 313
HGV 276
Bus 299
Skytrain 331
WCE 224

Transit Perception Factor

Transit perception is a factor that can reflect the user’s feeling about taking transit in each stage. It is used in the mode choice model. The values are cited from the literature with some minor adjustment based on local knowledge. Note that the boarding perception factor used for transfer boarding only. The model assumed there is no penalty for initial boarding. Current model only account perception impact for work purpose only.

Bus/Rail/WCE Time Component Matrix EMME Name Value
Bus In-vehicle ms300 busIVTprcpWk 1.25
-- Wait ms301 busWAITprcpWk 2.50
-- Walk ms302 busWALKprcpWk 2.00
-- Boarding ms303 busBOARDSprcpWk 10.00
Rail In-vehicle ms310 railIVTprcpWk 1.00
-- Wait ms311 railWAITprcpWk 2.50
-- Walk ms312 railWALKprcpWk 2.00
-- Boarding ms313 railBOARDSprcpWk 10.00
WCE In-vehicle ms320 wceIVTprcpWk 1.00
-- Wait ms321 wceWAITprcpWk 2.50
-- Walk ms322 wceWALKprcpWk 2.00
-- Boarding ms323 wceBOARDSprcpWk 10.00

Matrix

Over thousand matrices are used in the RTM simulation. Here is a list showing the matrices grouped by type and function:

Matrix Index

For the full list, see matrix list page.

Ensembles

The ensemble is a useful tool to group the zones by different purposes, either for geographical mapping or model calculating. There are various ensembles in the RTM model. Some of them are under implementation. Some of them are historically used and not functional at this moment, but we keep them as a placeholder for future usage. Here is a list of ensembles that the latest RTM is using:

Ensemble Index

Download Ensemble_Index.pdf