Stouffer's intervening opportunities model (IOM) was applied in the Chicago Area Transportation Study of the late 1950s, but a comparative evaluation of the relative accuracies of gravity and intervening opportunities models in the late 1960s effectively dismissed the IOM from the commercial arena because of its more complex computation. The relative merits of the IOM and the gravity model, when compared to Census journey-to-work data for Canberra and Sydney, are evaluated by the application of advanced computing technologies, GIS-Transportation and statistical software. The IOM has marginal advantages, using a wide range of comparative criteria, and its preference function allows insights into travel behaviour within and across cities. This is demonstrated with a model that contains location-specific preference functions. The model is developed and applied to proposed urban release areas in Canberra, to estimate person kilometres of travel, and to major employment centre spatial labour markets in metropolitan Sydney and Istanbul. Directions for further research that interprets the findings are outlined. (a).
Abstract