Trip distribution

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Trip distribution (or destination choice or zonal interchange analysis) is the second component (after trip generation, but before mode choice and route assignment) in the traditional four-step transportation forecasting model. This step matches tripmakers’ origins and destinations to develop a “trip table”, a matrix that displays the number of trips going from each origin to each destination.^[1] Historically, this component has been the least developed component of the transportation planning model.

Where: T _ij = trips from origin i to destination j. Note that the practical value of trips on the diagonal, e.g. from zone 1 to zone 1, is zero since no intra-zonal trip occurs.

Work trip distribution is the way that travel demand models understand how people take jobs. There are trip distribution models for other (non-work) activities such as the choice of location for grocery shopping, which follow the same structure.