NYBPM: Network Inputs

Highway and Transit Network

The network represents the linkages and characteristics of the street and highway system in order to support estimation of traffic volumes, traffic speeds, and vehicle travel times on individual links of the system plus zone to zone travel times. Also represented is connectivity, headways, speeds, and accessibility of the transit service to support estimation of travel times on individual links and passenger volumes on individual transit lines and links. The network integrates the diverse transit services in New York City, Long Island, five upstate New York counties, northern New Jersey, and two counties in Connecticut into a single TransCAD (version 9.0) route system.

Using TransCAD capabilities and customized programs, a region-wide transit system is built and transit skims are obtained to be used as inputs into the travel demand model system.

The NYBPM-2012 highway and transit networks were updated to a 2019 base year, and other corrections and improvements were also implemented.

A major component of the update was the integration of the highway and transit networks. made possible by the availability of the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) files for the major transit operators. Highly accurate shapes (or lines) describing the bus network were conflated to the highway link layer and used to associate bus routes with highway links. Bus frequencies and speeds were also imported.

The NYBPM 2019 Base Year highway network which consists of 88,500 links:

  • 9,650 Interstates and Expressways links
  • 40,800 Arterials links
  • 5,370 collector links
  • 2,250 Locals links
  • 25,640 centroids, external connectors, ramps, and other links

The network contains attributes to reflect four different time periods:

  • AM peak (6 – 10AM)
  • Midday (10AM – 3PM)
  • PM peak (3 – 7PM)
  • Night (7PM – 6AM)

The route system has 7,024 transit routes and 51,508 transit stops. It consists of many different types of service, including:

  • 1,400 Commuter Rail routes
  • 1,020 Express Bus routes
  • 94 Ferry routes
  • 15 Ferry Bus routes
  • 76 Limited Bus routes
  • 4,200 Local Bus routes
  • 2 RIT
  • 270 Subway routes

The network system incorporates walk/drive links for connectivity, park-and-ride lots, walk access/egress links, and fare coding.

NYBPM 2019 Base Year Update includes updated socioeconomic and demographic (SED) data, Census data and highway and transit counts that reflect 2019 conditions, highway and transit network data reflects improvements and changes to the regional transportation system as well as updated cost to 2019 dollars. It includes modification to various application procedures, and calibration and validation of the NYBPM to the 2019 base year.