Abstract
Non-home-based (NHB) trip making typically accounts for about 25 to 30 percent of travel by individuals in urban areas. However, the NHB trip purpose is usually treated as a large unknown category, and little attention is paid to the nature of these trips. An effort to better understand the characteristics of NHB trips by subdividing the NHB trip category is described. It is hoped that this effort will serve as a useful precursor to improving the analysis of trip chaining behavior. By definition, NHB trips are almost always part of a chain of trips that usually starts or ends at the trip maker's place of residence or work. By examining this chain more closely, it is possible to group NHB trips into two or three categories. More detailed analysis of these categories reveals that they have very different trip length, mode choice, and time of day characteristics. Making this subdivision improves the accuracy of the model, increases the sensitivity of the forecast to important factors, and provides a greater understanding of trip chaining behavior.
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