A Complex Network Methodology for Travel Demand Model Evaluation and Validation

Travel demand can be viewed as a weighted and directed graph where nodes are the origins and destinations and links represent the trips between nodes. This paper presents a network-theoretic methodology to evaluate and validate travel demand models. We apply the proposed method on three disaggregate travel demand models from Melbourne, Australia. Statistical properties of the modeled networks are compared against the observed networks over time. The new approach reveals the network structure and connectivity of the modeled trips that are not usually captured by traditional evaluation and validation methods. Results demonstrate the complexity involved in the development, evaluation, and validation of travel demand models, which calls for advanced evaluation techniques reflecting a wide range of attributes of the observed and modeled data, travelers, mobility patterns, and complex network characteristics.