Re: Household Synthesis Utility: Modifying and Adding Urbansim Variables

Hi Paul - are any of these other synthesizers (SEMCOG, Atlanta)
currently available for sharing with other users? We've run the
synthesizer packaged with the previous version of UrbanSim, but our
results (especially for # of workers) are less than satisfactory.
thanks, brian

Paul Waddell wrote:

>Joe
>
>There is good news and bad news. The bad news first. The household
>synthesizer you are trying to use has not been ported to the new Opus
>platform for UrbanSim, and we have not decided whether to port this
>application or try to build on another existing application, like the
>one SEMCOG has created, or the one developed for the Atlanta Regional
>Commission. As a result, we really can't support this application right
>now. The good news is that there are now several synthesizers out there,
>so hopefully we can provide a robust synthesizer before too long. If
>anyone wants to volunteer effort towards this, they would be welcome.
>
>Paul
>
>Joseph Nunez wrote:
>
>
>>Hi All,
>>
>>I am currently working on Household Synthesis Utility (HSU),
>>synthesizing households for Melbourne Australia.
>>
>>I have a couple questions regarding urbansim variable definitions and
>>whether it is possible to modify them i.e. (add new ones, edit
>>existing ones).
>>
>>First, I would like to know where to find the source code for the HSU.
>>As currently, the HSU is a blackbox to me.
>>
>>Second, there are only 5 Urbansim variables possible (Children, Race,
>>Workers, Income, Age). Where do I find the categories for the urbansim
>>variables in HSU and be able to modify them? (Is it in the code or in
>>a particular table)
>>
>>I’m guessing that these categories should be similar to the
>>household_characteristics_for_ht table and the categories are the BIN
>>definitions.
>>
>>I am interested in modifying these variables in order to better suit
>>Australian data. For example:
>>
>>1. Instead of Number of Children, the Australian microdata and CENSUS
>>lists it by family type (i.e. Single parent with children <15, Couple
>>with dependent Student). Although it is possible to map this using the
>>HOUSEHOLD_VARIABLE_MAPPING_INDIRECT table, giving the minimum number
>>of children. I would like to use the FamilyType variable as it will
>>give more accurate results.
>>
>>2. Adding a new variable: More Specifically, adding a Method to Work
>>variable (by car, bike, public transport). Currently this cannot be
>>done as it cannot be Indirectly mapped to any existing urbanism variable.
>>
>>Any comments and suggestions is greatly appreciated.
>>
>>Best Regards,
>>
>>Joe
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
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Received on Thu Aug 03 2006 - 06:41:00 PDT