Integrated modeling in the UK: Practical usability of integrated models

Abstract

This short paper reviews the range of planning issues that are currently being addressed in Britain and considers how the nature of these issues and the ways in which choices are being assessed impact the modeling approaches being adopted, in particular, by the author’s own consultancy practice. The paper briefly outlines current developments in governance and analytical requirements; implications of trends toward more detailed (and more time-consuming) transport modeling; and the role of microsimulation in both research and planning practice. It concludes primarily that the practicality of model operation, particularly in terms of model run times, is of critical importance, and in many cases, determines whether major planning decisions are made on the basis of formal analysis rooted, albeit indirectly, in research, or without such a basis at all. A secondary conclusion relates to the possible use of output from detailed microsimulation models as a basis for calibrating aggregate models.