The objective of this research is to carry out a scoping study to estimate potential usefulness, scope, purposes, costs, and administration of a national travel forecasting model that can assist states in estimating external trips.

The scoping study should address the following:

Define the purposes for the model
Determine the level of support/resources available from FHWA to maintain/administer the model

Determine whether passenger and freight travel should be integrated or handled separately

Determine the size and scale of the model

Evaluate whether there is sufficient data available to develop the model
Determine whether the model handles a single mode or whether it should be multi-modal

Determine whether the trips included are national and/or international

Estimate the time and costs for various options.
Determine the most appropriate institutional structure for developing the model.

The final report is available here.