Management Consulting

Services Provided: Socio-Economic Data Development, Roadway and Transit Network Development/Refinement

Insight is part of a team assisting the City of Tacoma in developing a travel demand model for the base year 2023. This critical initiative improves the model's ability to evaluate policy questions, ensure accuracy in land use, and support regional transportation planning objectives. 

Insight developed the transportation network and socio-economic data. Starting with the regional geodatabase, the team developed a geographically precise transportation network incorporating highway and transit systems, updated for conditions as of 2023. The transportation analysis zone (TAZ) layer was updated to align with the revised network and to integrate findings from recent studies. Land use and socio-economic data were refreshed using authoritative sources such as the 2020 Census, American Community Survey (ACS), Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) data, and regional datasets. The process ensured households, stratified by income, size, and employment characteristics, were correctly represented in the model. Insight also incorporated truck count data from roadway links and normalized these metrics to represent Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) for five time periods. 

These updates significantly improved the calibration and validation processes, particularly for freight movement. 

Services Provided: Ridership Demand Estimation, Alternatives Analysis, Traffic Intersection Analysis, Travel Demand Model Development, General Planning On-Call

Insight was part of a consultant team that provided general planning support services to the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). Insight assisted the TPO in the following projects:

• US 1 Intersection Analysis in Coral Gables: Insight developed traffic forecasts for a 4-mile segment of US 1 in Miami-Dade County to support a traffic analysis focused on evaluating vehicle and pedestrian access along and across the corridor. The analysis aimed to identify multimodal or roadway improvements to enhance corridor capacity. Forecasts were developed using historical growth trends from FDOT traffic counts (2010–2019) and growth rates from the SERPM regional travel demand model, with reasonableness checks performed using the 2015 and 2045 model years. The impact of potential traffic pattern changes, such as new signals and previously restricted turning movements, was also evaluated using the model for concept development. 

• CSX Railroad Corridor Assessment: Insight provided travel demand modeling, ridership forecasting, and data analysis support for the CSX Corridor Assessment. Three transit alternatives—West Kendall Link, South Link, and Kendall Link—were analyzed along segments of the CSX freight corridor. Insight reviewed service plans, fleet assumptions, and bus connections to develop GTFS datasets, which were used with the county-calibrated STOPS model to forecast ridership. The analysis incorporated population and employment data within a half mile of proposed stations to generate 2045 forecasts and evaluate station boardings, peak vehicle needs, and transit dependency. 

• MIA – PortMiami Transit Feasibility Study: Insight led the ridership forecasting efforts for this study, which focused on evaluating a direct transit connection between two major regional hubs. Four alternatives were analyzed—two Automated Transit Network (ATN) options and two heavy rail alignments. Insight compiled and reviewed relevant data including air passenger enplanements, cruise passenger volumes, and employment at PortMiami and the airport. Planning-level, market-specific forecasts were developed for cruise passengers and employees; STOPS was used for employee forecasts, while cruise passenger estimates were derived from existing data and travel patterns. Forecasts were validated for plausibility by comparing them with actual transit usage at MIA and were used to estimate peak vehicle requirements. 

Services Provided: Transit Modeling, Travel Demand Modeling

Insight led an effort exploring options to enhance the transit modeling capabilities of the Maryland Statewide Travel Model (MSTM). The objective was to redesign the transit component to support a more granular zone system and better address intercity and long-distance transit demands. Insight’s high-level services included transit model development, strategic planning, and stakeholder coordination. 

Insight’s primary task was to design a flexible, efficient, and maintainable transit model within the MSTM’s evolving framework. This upgrade provided an opportunity for the Maryland DOT to rethink the transit modeling approach. Insight evaluated the existing MSTM structure, focusing on agility, reduced staff maintenance workload, and performance under increased zoning complexity. 

Several modeling approaches were considered, ranging from minimal updates to comprehensive overhauls. Among the proposed options was an offline implementation of the Federal Transit Administration’s Simplified Trips on Project Software (STOPS), designed to offer more robust ridership forecasting. Through extensive analysis, Insight outlined five strategic pathways, each varying in development effort, maintenance requirements, and technical complexity. The options accounted for the need to support multiple rail agencies including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), Virginia Railway Express (VRE), and Amtrak, while preserving runtime feasibility and modeling accuracy.  

Services Provided: Data/GIS Analysis, Scripting, Model Development, Calibration and Validation, Economic Benefits, Data Visualization 

Insight is supporting the development of commuter rail ridership forecasting tool for MassDOT and MBTA. This tool will consider a wide range of initiatives and provide critical outputs showing ridership demand as well as societal and economic benefits to help MBTA develop the case for change and prioritize investments. The tool will use software that can be easily transferred to MassDOT and MBTA staff for in-house use. 

As part of this contract, Insight supported the development of the zone system for the forecasting tool. The finer zone system used in the Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization’s travel demand model (CTPS model) was agglomerated into a smaller number of zones based on proximity to rapid transit and commuter rail stations.

Insight utilized R scripts to develop a tool capable of using any set of stations as input and dynamically generating a new set of up to three catchment zones around each station based on a pre-defined set of rules. The tool also included the capability to resolve a wide variety of 'edge' cases where proximity-based selection crossed water bodies, or the catchments failed to include residual zones.

Insight also developed R scripts to aggregate the MPO’s demand model skim and demand matrices to the MBTA tool zone system format. Going forward, Insight is expected to support the calibration and validation of the tool under development. Specifically, Insight is expected to support the development of the economic benefits module and visualization functionalities for the tool. Insight’s effort is supporting the development of ridership and revenue forecasting tool to help MassDOT and MBTA prioritize future investments. 

Services Provided: Model Validation Support, Regional STOPS Model Support, Air Passenger Model Update, Data Visualization 

Insight, as part of a consultant team, provided travel demand modeling technical support to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), providing critical technical support, calibration, and enhancement of ARC’s Regional Activity-Based Model (ABM). Insight provided the following services for the ARC model update: 

• Visualization Tools: Insight developed and enhanced existing R Markdown-based visualization tools to process and summarize key inputs and outputs from the ABM. These tools help ARC dynamically compare data inputs between model runs, enabling staff to identify errors in input data or parameter files before starting multi-day model run, thus providing significant time savings. Additionally, the tools also provided insights into trip distribution and assignment metrics.  
• Ancillary Model Updates: Insight led the update to the air passenger model utilizing the most recent data available in the region. Further, Insight developed TAZ level student control totals for 10 key universities and colleges in support of an updated University destination choice model.  
• Regional STOPS Model Update: Insight updated the post-pandemic regional STOPS model with the latest available Census files from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and addressed previous comments received by ARC. This update enabled ARC to share the model with consultants and stakeholders in the region who wish to use the latest STOPS model for transit studies.  
• Assessing Modeling Software Platforms: Insight developed a memorandum that discusses key considerations related to multiple competing travel modeling software platform’s compatibility, data handling capabilities, and other core functionalities relevant to ARC's current and future modeling needs.  
• Model Validation Support: Insight assisted the team with the validation of the ABM/s transit and highway assignment modules. This included developing validation metrics such as % Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and deviation by facility class, volume group, and area type, and screenline volumes to validate the regional flow patterns. Further, the NextGen NHTS OD, Replica Synthetic OD, and the LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) datasets were analyzed to validate the model’s trip distribution patterns. The validation documentation was developed in RMarkdown and included dynamic maps and tables.

Services Provided: Travel Demand Model Development, Household Survey Processing 

Insight, as part of a consulting team, supported the development of the comprehensive update of the Piedmont Triad Regional Model (PTRM), a multi-county, multi-agency travel demand model used for regional transportation planning and federal funding justification in North Carolina. The project, managed by Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportatin (PART) in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and the Triad MPOs, aimed to recalibrate and modernize the PTRM to reflect current travel behavior with an expanded geographic coverage.

Insight’s primary responsibilities included the redevelopment of the household submodels and trip generation components using data from the 2023 PART Household Travel Survey and the American Community Survey (ACS). Insight executed advanced data integration and statistical techniques, including lifecycle segmentation and cross-classification analysis, to generate updated trip production rates and attraction coefficients. These rates were validated statistically, ensuring alignment with observed behaviors across demographic strata. 

The project also entailed transitioning legacy FORTRAN scripts to GISDK scripts within TransCAD, enhancing model transparency and maintainability. Insight developed a new GISDK-based destination choice model and implemented automated routines to replace manual processes, streamlining the model execution and model workflows.

A notable technical contribution was the creation of smoothed household demographic distribution curves using ACS Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS), facilitating more accurate socioeconomic forecasting at the TAZ level. Insight’s work was integral in incorporating refined model inputs such as TAZ-level household size, auto ownership, and income distributions, critical for accurate travel forecasting. This model update was critical for PART and its partners to support long-range planning, funding applications, and strategic infrastructure investments.  

Services Provided: Commuter Rail, Travel Demand Forecasting, Special Markets Ridership Forecasting, Calibration/Validation

Insight is the lead ridership forecasting firm for a multi-rail project in Orlando assisting, assisting the Florida Department of Transportation District 5 (FDOT-D5) and the Sunshine Corridor Partnership. The Sunshine Corridor Partnership is a team of agencies and companies working together to expand rail in Central Florida. The Partnership consists of FDOT-D5, four counties, the City of Orlando, BrightLine (a private inter-city passenger rail company), Universal Studios, as well as additional stakeholders and agencies.  

The Partnership seeks to introduce both commuter and inter-city rail to the Sunshine Corridor. Insight conducted a ridership study to evaluate demand for proposed commuter rail service in the Sunshine Corridor. The proposed SunRail commuter rail extension would link Orlando International Airport (OIA) with the Orange County Convention Center (one of the nation’s largest) and serve the International Drive business district, Universal Studios, and potentially Walt Disney World. This corridor includes six of the world's 12 most-visited theme parks, more than 70,000 hotel/resort rooms, nearly 90,000 jobs, and the nation’s eighth-busiest airport.

Insight developed customized models for the corridor’s airport passengers and major attractions. A regional Simplified Trips on Project Software (STOPS) transit model estimated average weekday commuter ridership. An air-passenger mode-choice model, calibrated with a 2023 Air Passenger Survey, assessed ground-access options to and from OIA for residents and visitors. A third model estimate transit ridership to the region’s theme parks.

Services Provided: Household Travel Survey Processing, Trip Generation, Trip Distribution, Mode Choice Model, Sensitivity Testing 

Insight is serving as a subconsultant to assist the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) with maintaining and updating its four-step travel demand model while providing critical technical support for model calibration, validation, sensitivity analysis, and user training. These efforts ensure the model remains an accurate and reliable tool for regional transportation planning and policy evaluation. Initially, Insight’s key activities focus on updating the freight matrix using Replica data. Insight is coordinating with the team to acquire and integrate this data, developing freight trip tables, and performing high-level checks in key freight activity zones such as ports and warehouses. This process emphasizes quality assurance and control (QA/QC), ensuring accuracy in representing freight movement. Deliverables include a technical memorandum documenting the trip table creation process and QA/QC results, laying the groundwork for informed freight-related decision-making. 

Insight is supporting the calibration and validation of the travel demand model. Insight is summarizing data from household travel surveys, Replica, and other sources like ridership and parking data to calibrate model components including trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, and highway/transit assignments. Recommendations for improving calibration and validation processes are provided, enhancing the model’s accuracy and reliability. Insight is also leading the sensitivity analysis process by coordinating with H-GAC to define four distinct scenarios for testing. This includes adjusting model inputs and parameters, investigating unexpected results, and proposing model updates to refine outputs. The findings from these tests will be summarized in a comprehensive sensitivity analysis report detailing scenario assumptions, results, and insights. 

Finally, Insight will focus on equipping H-GAC staff with the knowledge and tools needed for effective model use. Insight is contributing content to the model user guide, detailing model inputs, setup, execution, and troubleshooting procedures. Additionally, training materials are being developed for a six-hour session tailored to H-GAC staff. This training aims to enhance staff competency in navigating the model, running simulations, and interpreting results, empowering the agency with improved operational capabilities. 

Services Provided: Ridership Modeling and Demand Estimation, Air Passenger Ridership Estimation, CIG Evaluation

Insight is supporting the development of the Broward Commuter Rail (BCR) South corridor, an 11.5-mile proposed commuter rail line along the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway. This corridor, identified as an extension of the planned Northeast Corridor (NEC) service, connects the Aventura passenger station northward to downtown Fort Lauderdale, with proposed stations at Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and South Fort Lauderdale. The project's primary objective is to advance toward a successful application for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Capital Investment Grant (CIG) funding. 

Insight is providing strategic ridership modeling and advisory services crucial to advancing the project toward a successful federal funding application. The firm's role includes technical leadership in the Simplified Trips-on-Project Software (STOPS) model design and calibration, input data refinement, and the generation of detailed ridership forecasts that incorporate airport passenger activity. These forecasts are being used to evaluate the corridor’s performance against the FTA’s CIG project justification criteria, such as cost-effectiveness, mobility improvements, and land use. 

Insight’s contributions go beyond model development by advising on strategic grant-readiness, ensuring model outputs align with FTA expectations, and translating technical results into actionable insights for project decision-making and stakeholder communication. Insight’s dual focus on model integrity and grant strategy provides clear added value to the project team. This approach enables proactive coordination with FTA reviewers and ensures that ridership results support a strong case for federal funding. From this project, Insight has reinforced several best practices for future work: (1) begin FTA coordination early in the process, (2) align modeling strategies with funding criteria from the outset, and (3) integrate strategic guidance directly into technical tasks. These lessons help enhance the credibility of travel forecasts and improve the competitiveness of CIG applications.