Development of Intercity Travel Demand Models for a Highly Industrialised Regional Corridor

To generate cash flow in the economy, it is essential to develop the skillset of people in the country. This is done by taking care of induced travel demand generating year on year since it keeps on increasing with urbanisation. Hence, it is indispensable to provide effective and adequate transport infrastructure at the right time by analysing demand. As a service operator, it is equally important to provide the supply in the form of transport infrastructure like wide road width, flyovers, bridges, bus stops, and railway stations in the country. In the case of the movement of people and goods, the railway comes as the predominant and reliable mode of transport. For this study, the highly industrialised regional corridor covering Surat, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara is considered to develop the intercity passenger demand models and observe its sensitivity. To analyse the demand at the regional level, a direct demand model is developed, and it is found that the demand is going to almost double in 2030. The sensitivity analysis showed that a one percent change in travel time shows higher passenger demand compared to a unit change in travel cost and annual frequency.