Coverage, Types of Projects, Link to Other Models, Results, Use for Planning Processes and Flexibility

Coverage. TREDIS is the most comprehensive available system, as it works for both large and small projects involving essentially all modes of freight and passenger travel. The system is designed to evaluate the economic impact of projects involving passenger and freight transport via air, water and rail, as well as truck, car and bus travel. This structure makes TREDIS capable of analyzing impacts of small projects such as road transit service improvements, but it also makes it capable of analyzing impacts of large-scale projects affecting multiple modes of travel (such as a new highway that also improves access to airports or intermodal rail facilities.)

Types of Projects. TREDIS can represent the benefits not only for projects affecting passenger travel time and travel cost, but also for projects affecting freight flow patterns, schedule reliability, logistics efficiencies, labor and delivery markets, seasonal or daily congestion periods, and changes in ground access to intermodal transportation ports and terminals. This approach enables TREDIS users to conduct sophisticated economic modeling of multi-modal project impacts, yet it also enables TREDIS users to conduct straightforward screening and prioritizing of simple projects, by requiring only basic information, and allowing other factors to be ignored or rely on default values.

Link to Other Models. The flexible design of TREDIS does not require use of any particular form of travel demand model or transportation network model. Rather, the system's users the choice of relying on simple spreadsheet calculations, default values or sophisticated transportation network models to represent travel projects. The model's web-based modular structure allows it to be used with a wide variety of transportation cost models, access models and regional economic models. This design allows TREDIS users to represent different types of projects in terms of their different objectives and impacts - which may include improvements in delay, reliability, connectivity or access. Depending on the types of project objectives and impacts, different types of input data (coming from different types of models or sources) may be used.

Results. TREDIS provides users with impacts on costs savings, productivity and creation of income, jobs and business growth. It then provides a broad set of benefit/ cost measures based on travel efficiency, user benefit and economic development impact. Results are broken down by type of impact or benefit, by region of impact and by affected sector of the economy. This reporting system allows TREDIS users to tailor the reporting of results to the type of audience and set of issues most relevant to them. It can focus on travel efficiency, economic return on investment or economic development impact as may be appropriate for various types of funding, prioritization, decision-making or environmental impact reporting needs.

Use for Planning Processes. TREDIS is designed by trained transportation professionals and regional economic developers who understand local planning processes, needs assessment procedures and strategy planning. It thus comes preloaded with information on local economic development, market access and industry logistics factors. This perspective allows TREDIS to show how the specific design of a project (e.g., focusing on high occupancy commuting vehicles, freight movements or through traffic) and the specific corridors selected (e.g., affecting access to different market areas and transportation terminals) can change the nature of economic benefits for industries and households.

Flexibility. TREDIS is a web-based service, using state-of-the-art technology, which allows it to be used by multiple users in multiple locations, for multiple projects. Users may input data via web browser or data file upload, and later adjust assumptions via the web and immediately see results there. TREDIS may also be used with, or linked to, a variety of other models and tools. This format also allows TREDIS users to analyze impacts on multiple regions or study areas, and it also allows different regions to be defined for different projects. This flexibility makes TREDIS particularly valuable for showing local impacts as well as statewide impacts.