Project Meeting 2023.10.17

Agenda

• Admin
  • Documentation Update (CS)
  • Discuss ActivitySim related presentations/papers at 2024 TRB

Meeting Notes

Admin

• Clear channels regarding any ActivitySim content for TRB:
  • Papers/Presentations
    • None discussed.
  • Potential Meetup:
    • Informal Option
      • Lunch has worked well in previous years and seems to fit into schedules more seamlessly.
      • Action Item: Coordinate a date/time and location.
    • Structured
      • Everyone is quite busy. Adding another meeting may not be realistic. No meeting space has been requested on Activity Sim’s behalf.
• Phase 9 Scoping Exercise
  • If anyone has been assigned, please chime in to Alex’s email. Convert priorities into text.
  • This round will be qualitatively similar to Phase 8 in terms of structure. No obligation to bid on tasks – all, some, or none.
  • A pot of money will be available for ongoing activities, such as software maintenance and enhancement tasks.
  • IRPF will go out in early November – more details to come in future meetings.

Documentation Update: User Guide (Cambridge Systematics)

• Michelle appealed to the consortium to provide comments.
• Getting Started – Rename to Model Setup
  • May be useful to discern between a User’s Guide and a Developer’s Guide.
    • At the end of this task, provide feedback. Go forward into Phase 9 utilizing said feedback. Main goal is to reorganize/scale down/simplify the User’s Guide.
  • Input data requirements are key in terms of deploying ActivitySim in a user’s region. Reasonable to include documentation on the basic data inputs, in addition to the model setup.
    • Joe C.: Provide a few (2) simplified examples.
    • Michelle B.: May be more realistic to include one generic example.
  • Configuration Settings
    • User’s Guide does not dive into the meat of configuration settings. Build out at a conceptual level.

Going Forward

• Thursday meeting (10/19): Canceled.
• Next Tuesday (10/24): Input checker debriefing. David Hensle to take over to go over how RSG, WSP, SANDAG, and MTC have utilized ActivitySim.
• Metro Analytics wishes to have a debriefing regarding what ActivitySim can do for them. Preferably bring in a few agencies who are using ActivitySim. Please reach out to Ellen Zavisca if interested. Joe C. has volunteered to speak to ActivitySim’s benefits and challenges.
• Kate Dannemiller will be temporarily taking over administrative duties. Please reach out with any questions/concerns.