A modeling paradigm for analyzing transportation-development interactions is described. The new approach is based on isolating underlying causes of development deficiencies in a systematic way, identifying policies and infrastructure investments to deal with the causes, and then assessing the impacts of alternatives against specified goals. The system dynamics methodology uses three alternative forms of the model: verbal (narrative description), visual (causal diagram), and mathematical (set of equations derived from the causal diagram). The methodology is illustrated using three examples: (a) modeling urban systems, (b) modeling regional and national economics, and (c) evaluating user and nonuser benefits. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1274, Transportation and economic development 1990: proceedings of a conference, williamsburg, virginia, november 5-8, 1989.
Samenvatting